Naruko Uzumaki, Seal Mistress
by ForsakenAng3l
Summary: When Jiraiya saves five year old Naruko from a harsh beating on her birthday, he decides to train her until she is twelve. Of course the tort- er, training under the Toad Sannin is going to be grueling, but it will all be worth it in the end. On their travels, she will learn of her heritage, and who knows what else. maybe meet a couple of people who will mean the world to her.
1. Beginning

**Naruko Uzumaki, Seal Mistress**

 **Chapter 1 - Beginning**

So I'm sure some of you guys who have read Vengeance of an Uzumaki and Hyuuga ar probably wondering where the hell I have been. My computer broke beyond repair, and by that I mean my dog stepped on it and shattered the screen and a few other internal parts. Now I have gotten a new computer and I'm ready to start pumping out more chapters for Vengeance. Also this is one of my new stories that I decided to start typing on my phone a while back. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I have writing it. Anyway, without further ado, let the story begin... I do not own Naruto in any way, shape, or form. Sadly...

 **LEGEND: "…" speech**

'…' **thinking**

 **(…) probably authors notes**

 _ **italics will purely be flashbacks**_

 **\- Scene change**

"There she goes! Kill the demon!" "Make her suffer!" "How dare you show your face to us monster!" "Demon!" These were the yells from the villagers of Konohagakure, and they were all aimed at a five year old blonde girl. Her hair spiked out in all different directions with no chance of ever taming it. She kept it short so the villagers couldn't grab it easily. She had cerulean blue eyes above six whisker shaped birthmarks on her face, three on each cheek. Her clothes were ragged and much to big for a five year old to wear. The shirt was almost like a dress, reaching down to her knees; and her shorts were barely held on her waist with a small length of rope. The shoes she wore were hardly what could be called shoes. Merely what was left of the soles of a very old pair of shoes tied around her feet with some more rope. This was what Naruko Uzumaki had for possessions, aside from a few small trinkets hidden away that consisted of a few ryo, the handle of a shattered kunai, and a bell.

Seemingly pointless trinkets to most everybody but we're very important to Naruko for some reason or another. However, tonight those were not on her mind at the moment. The only thought passing through Naruko's mind was to get away from the villagers that were trying to kill her. At least until she made a wrong turn down a dead end alley. Naruko turned around to try and run quickly back the way she had come but the villagers had already cornered her.

"Now we got ya you damn monster," one of the villagers spat. The man smelled strongly of sake and pulled out a knife from inside his shirt. "Tonight you are going to die so we don't have to deal with you anymore."

"Enough talking just kill the little bitch already before any shinobi find out," one of the more skittish men said quickly.

Naruko stared fearfully at them like a deer in the headlights. She tried to move but was frozen in fear as they all began to converge on the blonde. As they drew near, Naruko regained a little muscle control and tried to make a mad dash through the crowd only to be grabbed roughly by the back of the neck and thrown face first into the ground. Naruko yelped lightly as her face smashed into the ground causing her nose to bleed.

Naruko looked up at them fearfully. "Why?" She choked out. "What did I do to any of you?"

"You're a monster," the man with the knife said. "That's all there is to it. We don't need you corrupting our children." He lifted his foot and dropped it down on Naruko's ankle. A sickening snap sounded in the dark alley. Naruko cried out as she felt her ankle break.

Naruko was now surrounded by the men, each one of them taking their turn to stomp on the blonde. The occasional fist made its way into Naruko's face or gut through out the beating. This went on for another five minutes until they stopped, Naruko no longer making any noise. The only thing that said she was alive were the slight convulsions of pain that ran through her body. They glared at her, angry that they couldn't get Naruko to cry out in pain anymore.

The villager with the knife stepped forward and kicked her roughly in the ribs, a slight inaudible crack sounded. Naruko gritted her teeth, trying not to give the man the satisfaction of letting her pain be known. The man glared down at the girl who refused to show any weakness.

"Why does a demon like you get to live here in this peaceful village?" he asked angrily. "You should just die!" the man roared as he brought the knife down in a wide arc to stab Naruko right in the heart.

However, only the mans empty fist crashed into the girl's chest. He looked around stunned at why his knife had suddenly disappeared. "What the hell?" he asked incredulously.

"Oh we're you looking for this?" a voice said from the back of the alley. The villagers all turned towards the voice.

"Who the hell are you?" one of the villagers asked.

"Why are you trying to kill that girl there?" the voice asked again, now stepping into the light to reveal a man with white hair wearing a dark green kimono top and pants with a red sleeveless haori over it. Mesh armor could be seen on his arms where the sleeves ended. The same for his legs where the pants ended about midway down his shins. He wore red geta sandals on his feet that clacked with every step he took. He had metal plate guards on the back of his hands and a horned headband with the symbol for oil on it. Finally across his back was a giant red scroll.

(You're Going Down – Sick Puppies plays)

The villager who lost his knife glared at the man now casually twirling it in his hand. "This is none of your concern. That demon needs to die tonight!" he yelled.

At that the white haired man quit twirling the knife and he glared dangerously at the man before disappearing in a shunshin. They all looked around slightly nervous from the dangerous glint the man had in his eye. Suddenly from the back of the group one of the men cried out and fell to the ground in a heap. A pool of red slowly spreading out from under him. The men all now liked fearful as their only escape route was now blocked off by the man.

The man who had attempted to stab Naruko then stepped forward. "Why are you all cowering? He's only one man! There are a lot more of us than him! Let's kill him too!" he yelled, the words bringing the villagers out of there stupor and then charging towards the white haired man.

He looked up and glared at them all, releasing a large amount of killer intent at them all before charging forward, quickly ending the life of any and every villager in the little back alley. Barely even a minute passed and the only one left standing was the villager who had tried to stab Naruko.

He stared wide eyed at the man before him and took a step back. "W-who are you?" he stuttered, fear now entering his expression. "Why can't you see that we are doing this for the good of the village? That monster there deserves to die!"

The man took a few steps forward then charged the remaining distance between them. The white haired man grabbed the other by the neck and lifted him up into the air. "My name is Jiraiya of the Sannin. And you just tried to kill my goddaughter," he said dangerously low.

At the revelation of the name the villager went wide eyed. Most everybody knew of Jiraiya of the Sannin. One of the three students of the Sandaime Hokage himself.

"W-wait! Have mercy on me!" the villager pleaded. The pleas fell on deaf ears and Jiraiya tightened his grip on the man before letting him drop the ground in an ungraceful heap. The villager looked up with hope in his eyes that he was going to survive this night. That look, however, was dashed as he suddenly felt something imbedded in his chest. He looked down and saw his knife reflecting the moonlight.

"Scum like you don't deserve to live," Jiraiya said coldly before ripping the knife from the mans chest and quickly slicing his throat before tossing the knife away. Jiraiya watched the light fade from the mans eyes before rushing over to Naruko. She was still alive thanks to her tenant but barely. She was covered in wounds and probably had more than a few broken bones. Jiraiya carefully picked the girl up before walking down the alley way. Before he left though Jiraiya turned back and looked up at the rooftops. "Get down here and clean this mess up now," he commanded to the hidden ANBU. "Also when that is done go straight to the Hokage's office. You are going to have some explaining to do later."

With that Jiraiya turned and left the alley heading straight for the hospital. It took the man no time at all the reach the hospital where he quickly found a medical ninja to take care of Naruko, after a small amount of threats when nobody decided to step forward, before heading off the Hokage's office. Jiraiya rarely used the door, he preferred to waltz right through the window. This time was different, however. He completely ignored the sleeping secretary before going upstairs and knocking on the Hokage's door before entering. There were already four ANBU standing in the room, the same from from the alley.

The Hokage looked up from his seemingly endless pile of paperwork and directed his gaze towards his former student. "What's going on Jiraiya?" The old man asked.

"Sensei," Jiraiya began. At that the Hokage stiffened. Jiraiya only called him that when it was a very serious matter. And from the way the ANBU seemed so nervous, he could only imagine what had happened. "Naruko was just attacked earlier by a group of villagers. They nearly killed her."

The Hokage's eyes widened at that. "What happened to her?" the old mans voice was laced with worry.

"She's fine. I took her straight to the hospital after..." Jiraiya cleared his throat. "Dismissing the villagers from their actions this night." The Hokage knew what that meant, aside from more kamiforsaken paperwork, and it didn't seem pretty. "What's even more pressing is that the four ANBU who were supposed to be protecting Naruko simply watched and did nothing to intervene."

Sarutobi glared at the four ANBU in the room that weren't hidden in the rafters. "Is this true?" he asked them, his voice dangerous. The ANBU all looked down and nodded. There was no way of getting out of this unharmed for them. "Very well. You will all be stripped of your ranks. As of now the four of you are simple Genin, and you will be visiting T&I for the next six months. Half of any pay you will receive with go straight to Naruko. And your current mission of protecting Naruko will be marked as a failure. You are to hand in your masks and gear immediately." With a wave of his hand the hidden ANBU in the room all dropped to the floor, each on landing in front of one of the others. The previously hidden ANBU took their masks and gear before sealing them away in storage scrolls. "Now go. You're dismissed," the Hokage said not giving the former ANBU another look as they left the room.

Jiraiya looked over at his Sensei as he withdrew a hidden bottle of sake from a compartment hidden away in his desk along with two saucers. Jiraiya smirked and took the saucer Sarutobi offered him. "So what are you gonna do now Jiraiya?" the Hokage asked.

Jiraiya emptied the saucer and walked over to the window to look up to the Hokage monument, his eyes resting on the Fourth's face. "I'm going to train her for the next 7 and a half years until she's ready to graduate from the academy," he said after a moment of silence. "No more secrets from her Sensei. I'm going to tell Naruko everything about her. Who her parents were, her clan, all of it."

"I don't think that is wise Jiraiya. You know how many enemies her father had, and the same goes for her mother. The Yellow Flash and The Red Death made many an enemy during their lives," Sarutobi warned.

"Yes. I realize that fully Sensei, but she has a right to know. And as her godfather I'm going to be the one to take care of it. She deserves better than what she has," Jiraiya said sadly. "I just wish I would've come sooner."

The Hokage sighed as he drank another saucer of sake. "Very well. I'm granting you permission to train her until she's ready to graduate. I'll also give you what her parents left her," the old man said and stood up from his desk. He walked over to the picture of the Fourth Hokage on the wall and pulled it back to reveal a safe with numerous seals across and around it. A chain of hand signs later and the seals crept back into the center sealing matrix. With one final click the safe opened and Sarutobi retrieve three scrolls; one red, one yellow, and one orange; and a single three pronged kunai.

Sarutobi set them on his desk in front of him and looked over at his student. "Here they are. Where are you planning on going with her?" he asked.

"I want to take her to Uzushiogakure. I'm sure there are secrets that only she would be able to get and it will help in her training. I could teach her my style of taijutsu, but I would feel better if she could use her clan's own style of fighting," Jiraiya told his Sensei. "Also I'm going to teach her fuinjutsu and what better place to learn than where the strongest fuinjutsu reside."

"I though everything there was either destroyed or taken?" The Hokage asked.

"That's what I thought as well, but Kushina said that Mito told her that the Uzumaki stored anything of major importance deep within Uzushio. Only an Uzumaki could retrieve their hidden scrolls," Jiraiya replied. "I'd love to get my hands on some of there more powerful sealing scrolls but I feel as though that wouldn't be a wise choice."

"Of course. The Uzumaki probably have seals placed that only an Uzumaki can read the scrolls without getting killed or losing all of their chakra," the old man nodded.

"Well that settles it then," Jiraiya said and grabbed the scrolls and kunai off the desk. He placed the scrolls inside his shirt and stared at the kunai for a moment before doing the same to it. "I'm going to go check on the gaki then we are going to leave first thing in the morning."

"Be careful out there with him Jiraiya," Sarutobi said. "Don't let anything happen to her."

"What do you take me for, some weak Genin?" Jiraiya said with a laugh. "I'll make sure that when she comes back she will be one of the strongest academy students to ever graduate. Maybe even stronger than Kakashi and Itachi when they graduated." And with that Jiraiya left the office to walk back to the hospital.

He arrived at the hospital in a few minutes and walked right into Naruko's room where the blond was laying in bed, seemingly asleep. Jiraiya sat down in the chair next to her bed and watched the kid sleep. She probably wouldn't wake up for another couple of hours at least. Jiraiya shrugged and decided to catch a quick nap while waiting on the girl. This way he could make sure nobody else tried to hurt his goddaughter for a while.

Naruko woke with a start. She looked around at where she was at and noticed that she was in what looked like a sewer. 'Great. The villagers probably threw me down here thinking I was dead,' she thought to himself then sighed. Why couldn't anybody just treat her like anything other than a monster or demon?

Naruko decided to try and find her way out of the place so she began walking down a seemingly random corridor. She walked for what felt like hours through twists and turns that never seemed to end. Finally though she got a little bit of hope as she saw a light up ahead. Naruko quickened her pace and was soon running down the hallway. As she emerged into the light she noticed that it wasn't the exit she was expecting but instead a giant room with a pair of cage doors taking up the far wall that seemed to have nothing but a never ending darkness behind them.

Naruko sighed and turned to leave the dismal place until a low rumbling stopped the girl in her tracks. She turned slowly back to the cage doors and tried to peer through the darkness. "Who's there?" she shouted fearfully.

When no answer came Naruko released a breath she didn't realize she was holding and was about to walk out of the room again when a deep growling stopped her dead in her tracks. "What are you doing in here?" a deep voice growled.

Naruko spun around quickly and looked up at the cage and locked eyes with a giant pair of red ones. Naruko swallowed the lump in her throat as she stared up at the slitted eyes. "Who are you?" Naruko barely managed to make her voice loud enough to be heard.

"Who am I?" the deep voice asked. "I am the Kyuubi no Yoko! The most powerful tailed beast!"

"Who?" Naruko asked confused.

The fox seemed to sweat drop as it stared down at the clueless blonde before it. "The fox that attacked your village five years ago," it growled. "Do you know anything?"

"That was you?!" Naruko yelled up at it. "Why are you here then? I thought the Fourth Hokage beat you?"

The fox sneered. "No! You fool!" the fox roared. "I was merely sealed away inside of a clueless idiot!"

"Really? Who was that?" Naruko asked.

If the fox didn't have more pride than all the tailed beasts put together he would face palmed. "I was sealed inside of you. You idiot child," the Kyuubi groaned.

"Oh," Naruko said simply then seemed to realize she had been insulted. "Hey! I'm not an idiot!"

"Clearly," the fox said skeptically.

"I'm sorry," Naruko said suddenly.

The fox grew confused as to why it was being apologized too. No human had ever apologized to it before. "For what brat?" It asked.

"For being sealed inside of me. I'm sure you didn't want to be sealed away," Naruko said.

The fox huffed. "Like you could do anything about it," the fox said.

"What if I made this place not so dark and creepy?" Naruko asked.

"How could you do that?" The fox asked curiously. It knew full well the blonde could do anything that her imagination could think of in this place but was rather curious to see if the blonde could figure that out.

"Well if you're sealed inside of me wouldn't that make me kinda like the ruler over this place?" Naruko asked. The fox merely nodded making Naruko grin. "OK! One big forest coming right up!" Naruko exclaimed and began to think about the forests outside of Konoha's walls. She focused really hard on them and when she opened his eyes, not realizing she had closed them in the first place, she was now standing face to face with the giant fox without any cage doors separating them.

Suddenly glowing lines of kanji floated through the air from behind Naruko and swirled around the foxes neck before forming a simple leather collar. "What the hell is this thing brat?!" the fox growled as it tried to rip the seal from its neck.

"Sorry. I didn't do that. It just happened on its own," Naruko said sheepishly.

The fox glared down at Naruko for a moment before turning around and walking through the forest. "You should go back. I'm sure that man would like to talk to you brat," the fox said.

"OK. But when I leave how do I come back here?" Naruko asked.

"Just close your eyes and focus on this place. Now leave," the fox growled.

"See you later Kyuubi!" Naruko called before vanishing from the seal.

The fox turned around and watched the boy disappear before shaking its head and walking further into the forest.

Naruko woke up slowly and looked up. She was in the hospital. Naruko hated hospitals. Too much sitting and not enough moving. Naruko's eyes began to wander around the room until a cough caught her attention. She quickly turned to the sound.

"Jiji what hap-" Naruko began then grew very confused at who this person was. "Wait your not Jiji. Who are you?"

Jiraiya chuckled. "You call the Hokage Jiji? That's amusing," he said. Naruko just continued to stare at the man. "I'm The Great Jiraiya! The Toad Sage of Myobokuzan and one of the students of the Hokage himself!" The man exclaimed suddenly striking a very ridiculous pose.

Naruko just tilted her head to the side and stared strangely at the man. "You're weird," Naruko finally said causing Jiraiya to face fault onto the floor.

After Jiraiya regained his composure and a little bit of his dignity he cleared his throat and sat back down. "Naruko do you remember what happened earlier?" he asked suddenly very seriously.

"All I remember was being cornered by those villagers then they started to kick me a lot. I don't remember much after that," Naruko said sadly.

Jiraiya sighed. "It's alright. They won't ever hurt you again," he said. "I promise."

"Did you help me?" Naruko asked. Jiraiya nodded. "Why? Nobody ever helps me. Everybody hates me." Naruko looked away.

"Why would I hate my goddaughter? Especially when she's my old students daughter," Jiraiya asked casually.

Naruko's head turn around so fast Jiraiya thought she might get whiplash. "Goddaughter?" Naruko said the word quietly. Fearful of this being a cruel trick.

Jiraiya simply smiled and nodded. "Of course. I'm your godfather," he said. "So that would make you my goddaughter."

Naruko felt tears coming to her eyes. "You mean this isn't some sort of horrible trick? I actually have a family?" Naruko asked feeling a few tears fall down her face.

Jiraiya smiled softly at the girl. "Of course you have a family," Jiraiya said. Any other words he was going to say we're lost as Naruko suddenly leaped from the bed to barrel into the mans chest and hug him as tight as she could. The tears finally falling freely down her face. Jiraiya was startled at the sudden hug but then returned it. He let Naruko cry there for a few moment before he pulled the reluctant blonde off of him and set her on the hospital bed. "I've got a question I want to ask you, but I feel as though I may already know the answer. How would you like to come and train with me for the next seven years. I could teach you all sorts of techniques. Including your families taijutsu styles."

Naruko's grin threaten to split her face in two perfectly identical halves that would've made a certain black haired kid in another dimension smile happily. "Yes! I want to be the best ninja there is and then become the greatest Hokage ever!" Naruko exclaimed.

"I thought that's what you would say," Jiraiya beamed. "We'll leave tomorrow after we get plenty of supplies and you some new clothes and plenty of ninja tools."

Naruko grinned excitedly. "Alright! Dattebayo!" She exclaimed.

"You definitely got that verbal tic from your mother she was worried you would get," Jiraiya chuckled.

Naruko seemed to break out of her stupor. "You knew my mom?" She asked.

Jiraiya nodded. "And you father. But I'll tell you all about them later. For now you need to get some rest. Let's go back to your apartment," he said.

Naruko simply nodded and got off the bed and followed Jiraiya outside of the hospital. Naruko continued to hammer Jiraiya with questions about training and where they would be going. Jiraiya, however, skillfully avoided every question thrown at him so as to not reveal how grueling it would get. Instead Jiraiya was able to learn everything that had happened to Naruko up until now.

"You know what gaki. I've got a little surprise for you," Jiraiya said suddenly.

"What is it?" Naruko asked excitedly.

"I'm not telling you," Jiraiya said. "It wouldn't be a surprise then. Watch. This is gonna be one of the first jutsu I teach you." Jiraiya made the clone seal and focused his chakra with many years of practice. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" He called out. In a puff of smoke an exact replica of Jiraiya appeared.

"Whoa! So cool!" Naruko exclaimed loudly.

"The Kage Bunshin. Much stronger than a normal Bunshin, it's not an illusion. Great for training," Jiraiya explained shortly before turning to his clone. "Go on," he told the clone before it nodded and disappeared in a shunshin. Naruko and Jiraiya continued to walk through the streets until they finally arrived at Naruko's apartment. They walked in and looked around. There were empty ramen cups and milk cartons lying around everywhere. The trash was overflowing and there was a constant drip of the kitchen faucet.

Naruko sighed. "Home sweet home," she mumbled.

Jiraiya put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it. When we get back from our training trip, you'll inherit your father and mothers place," Jiraiya said encouragingly.

"Who were they?" Naruko asked.

"I thought I said we would talk about this tomorrow?" Jiraiya inquired.

Naruko shrugged. "And I'm not tired. There's plenty of time," she said casually.

Jiraiya chuckled lightly. "Alright then," he said and sat down at the table. "Your mothers name was Kushina Uzumaki, or more commonly know as the Red-Hot Habanero. She had a temper like no other. She was also one of the remaining survivors of the Uzumaki clan after the attack during the Second Shinobi War."

"What happened?" Naruko asked.

"Iwa and Kumo forged an alliance with each other out of fear that the Uzumaki were too powerful in the sealing arts," Jiraiya said. "People tend to fear what they don't understand. And not many people understand the art of fuinjutsu. The battle was a massacre. For both sides. The Kumo Iwa alliance lost over two thirds of their forces before the final Uzumaki was killed. When I say the Uzumaki clan was a powerful clan, I mean it.

"Your mother definitely inherited the Uzumaki tenacity and strength. She was also a level 8 seal master. Your father, however, was just as good as me if not better at sealing. He was known as The Yellow Flash during The Third Shinobi War. He alone dealt with an entire battalion of Kumo shinobi. This was also the man that created the Rasengan and became the Fourth Hokage."

Naruko went wide eyed at that revelation. "My father was the Fourth Hokage?" her voice came out barely a whisper.

Jiraiya nodded smiling proudly. "Yep. And he was my best student too. I was never more proud of him the day he became Hokage. Well besides the day he married Kushina," Jiraiya grinned.

Naruko was amazed at this revelation. "Wow," Naruko said before her face spilt into a grin. "My father was the Fourth Hokage!" Naruko yelled leaping from where she was sitting on her couch.

Jiraiya chuckled at Naruko's antics. "Settle down gaki. I've got some things for you," Jiraiya said and pulled the scrolls and kunai from his shirt. Naruko walked over to him and sat down in the other chair. Jiraiya placed the items in front of Naruko. "These scrolls were left behind by your parents. The red one contains your mothers secret to using chakra sealing chains. The yellow has the secrets to the Rasengan and Hirashin. The orange scroll here was one your mother got from Uzushio specifically for you. I'm not entirely sure what it contains, but only you can open it."

Naruko stared at the scrolls in front of her. She was almost fearful to take them. Thoughts of this being nothing but a dream flooded her head. She finally shook her head of those thoughts and picked up the scrolls. The sealing formulas that were around them flared for a moment before disappearing the moment Naruko touched them.

"It seems your parents wanted only you to read them. I only know of what was in them because your father told me himself. You can read them later. This kunai was your fathers, well one of his many kunai anyway. I'm sure you'll find out how to use them in his scroll," Jiraiya said.

She picked up the kunai and stared at it for a moment. "It's so heavy and why is it shaped so weird?" she asked curiously.

Jiraiya shrugged. "My guess is to help with deflecting other weapons and it was easier to use for the Hirashin. And now, finally from me I want you to have this," Jiraiya pulled out a book from his shirt. "The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi. My first book that I ever wrote. Your parents actually named you from the main character in the book. Well with the exception of a single letter." Jiraiya chuckled lightly.

Naruko opened the book to try and read a little of it. "This is pretty hard to read," she said.

"Well you're only five. I wouldn't expect you to be able to read this yet. But I'll teach you when we are traveling. For now though," Jiraiya trailed off and held up three fingers then brought them down one by one. As the last finger fell his clone appeared in the room and set down a cake with five candles all lit on the table. "Happy birthday Naruko," Jiraiya said excitedly.

Naruko stared at the cake wide eyed. She had never had a cake before let alone gotten anything for her birthday aside from beatings that seemed worse only on this day. She couldn't help the tears that fell down her face. "T-thank you," she sniffed, wiping her eyes and nose on her shirt. "This is the best birthday I've ever had."

Jiraiya smiled softly at the girl. "You're welcome," he said kindly. "Well what are you waiting for? Blow out the candles and make a wish!" Naruko sniffed one last time before taking a deep breath and blowing the candles out in one huff. "Let's dig in!" Jiraiya exclaimed before cutting a huge piece for Naruko and placing it in front of her.

Naruko beamed up at him and did just that. The two of them devoured the entire cake that night, which was no huge feat considering Naruko's appetite. Once the last bite had been eaten and the dishes put away Naruko finally began to feel tired.

"Alright gaki. Now get to bed. We've got things to do tomorrow," Jiraiya said.

Naruko simply nodded sleepily. "OK. Goodnight," Naruko mumbled as she walked into her room. Jiraiya stood up to leave when he was suddenly enveloped in a hug. "Thank you for the best birthday ever," Naruko said.

Jiraiya smiled kindly down at Naruko and hugged her right back. "You're welcome. Now get to bed," Naruko stepped back and nodded before going to her room and shutting the door behind her. Jiraiya smirked and flipped the lights off before leaving.

Out in the night air again Jiraiya stretched and took a deep breath of fresh air. The next seven years were definitely gonna be interesting.

The next morning Naruko jumped up out of bed early and quickly got ready for the day. After making sure it wasn't all a dream she opened his door to go and find Jiraiya only to find the man waiting outside. "Well you're awfully excited for today," he said with a smirk.

"You bet! I've never left the village before!" Naruko said excitedly.

Jiraiya smirked. "Well first we're going to go and get some new clothes that actually fit you. And then some gear for you to train with," he said and began to walk into the shopping district. Naruko stuck close to Jiraiya to avoid anybody who was there. The villagers all glared at Naruko for just being there but didn't say anything due to Jiraiya's presence. They continued to walk until Jiraiya stopped in front of a clothing store and opened the door to walk in. He turned when he saw Naruko not budging from where he stood.

"What's wrong gaki?" Jiraiya asked.

"I'm not allowed to go in there," Naruko said quietly.

Jiraiya walked back over to Naruko and put his hand on the girls shoulder. "Nonsense. They won't mess with you if I'm around," he said encouragingly.

Naruko nodded slowly, still unsure about this idea. She followed Jiraiya into the store and the shop keepers eyes immediately went to Naruko.

"I thought I told you not to come in here anymore!" the man yelled, ignoring Jiraiya entirely. The shop keeper walked around the counter to throw Naruko out of the store but his wrist was grabbed roughly before he could grab Naruko's collar. "What the hell are you-" the man began but was quickly cut off when he felt the killing intent being directed at him in such a small space.

"Don't you lay a finger on her," Jiraiya said dangerously quiet. The man nodded hurriedly before scrambling back behind his counter and away from Jiraiya. "See? Told you nobody was gonna bother you while I'm around," Jiraiya grinned down at Naruko.

Naruko smiled regaining a little bit of her confidence before going right over to a bright orange and blue jumpsuit. She grabbed it and was about to go try it on when she felt Jiraiya's hand on her shoulder. "Hell no. You're gonna be a shinobi, not a moving target. Get something different gaki," Jiraiya said with a shake of his head.

Naruko sighed sadly and put the jumpsuit up before going over to the other clothing racks. She grabbed a few pair of dark pants and double the amount of shirts. Half of them each had some sort of orange on them. Naruko was about to take them over to Jiraiya to leave when she noticed an orange hoodie with a pair of fox ears on the hood stuffed away in a dark corner of the store.

Naruko grinned and grabbed it before going over to Jiraiya. The man sighed when he saw the hoodie but decided not to argue with the blonde over it. She seemed to like it tremendously. Jiraiya paid for the clothes along with a new pair of shoes for Naruko he had grabbed. After Naruko changed into her new clothes complete with hoodie, even if the hoodie was way to big for the girl. The hoodie went just passed her knees, but she didn't care either way.

"Alright gaki, next stop," Jiraiya said, leading a smiling blonde out into the street. The next time they stopped it was in a shinobi supply shop.

"Welcome Master Jiraiya," the clerk said.

"Morning Tasha. Is my order finished?" he asked.

"Yes. I'll go get the-" Tasha ever got to finish what she was saying due to a small brunette bursting through the door.

"Kaa-San! I got all bulls eyes!" the little girl exclaimed. She was wearing a pink kimono that ended just above her thighs. Under that were dark capris that went down to mid calf. Her hair was done up in a single small bun.

"Tenten! I'm in the middle of something right now," the clerk scolded her daughter.

The little girl looked down sheepishly and bowed to Naruko and Jiraiya. "I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't realize."

Tasha sighed and shook her head. "It's fine. Just pay more attention next time," she said. "Master Jiraiya if you'd like to check over the contents I'll release the contents of the scrolls in the back."

Jiraiya nodded and followed her behind the counter leaving the two children in the store. Tenten walked over to Naruko and put her hand out. "Hi! I'm Tenten," she said excitedly.

Naruko shook her hand cautiously. "Naruko Uzumaki," she replied.

"What brings you in here today?" she asked curiously.

"My godfather is getting some weapons for our training trip," Naruko said with a grin.

"Master Jiraiya is your godfather?!" Tenten exclaimed. "Wow! You're so lucky! He's one of the coolest shinobi ever. Besides Tsunade of course."

Naruko nodded. "I'm really excited to get trained by somebody powerful. Then I can finally become Hokage!" Naruko declared.

"You want to be the Hokage? That's really cool," Tenten said. "I want to collect every weapon the Sage of the Six Paths owned. They are really rare and very powerful."

"Who?" Naruko asked confused.

Tenten looked at him like he had just kicked a puppy. "The Sage of the Six Paths! He was the first person to use chakra. He's the one who gave us ninjutsu!" Tenten exclaimed. "Here I'll show you!" She grabbed her hand and pulled her over to a far wall with a bookcase on it. She grabbed a very old looking book and placed it down on the floor. Tenten sat down and pulled Naruko with her before she opened the book and scanned the pages until she found what she was looking for.

"Here he is," she pointed to a picture of a man wearing a pure white haori wielding a shakujo. He had white hair and what looked like horns on his forehead. Naruko couldn't see much more than that due to his back being turned. In front of the man was a horrible looking creature. "Apparently he was the first jinchuuriki ever after defeating the Juubi. He sealed it within himself then created the nine Bijuu we know of today. He made several weapons to help him fight that creature, and I am dying to get my hands on them!"

Naruko was fascinated with the man in the picture. To be able to fight a creature on that scale by himself and be the victor, you would have to be extremely powerful. "Wow. That's incredible," Naruko said.

"I know," Tenten said and stood up with the book along with Naruko. She put the book back up and walked back over to Naruko. "Want to go throw some shuriken with me?" she asked with a smile.

"Sure!" Naruko grinned. "Only, I've never thrown any shuriken before. Nobody would ever sell shinobi supplies to me so I could train."

"Why?" Tenten asked curiously.

"I don't know. But a lot of the villagers hate me," Naruko said sadly.

"Well that's dumb. You're a nice person," Tenten said. "Do you wanna be friends?"

Naruko looked up at her and smiled. "Yeah!" She exclaimed.

Tenten grinned. "Alright! But my friends need something first," she said and went behind the counter. She came back with a necklace with a very small shuriken and kunai on it. She handed it to Naruko. "Now where friends!"

Naruko grinned and put the necklace around her neck. "Thank you Tenten!"

"You're welcome," she grinned back.

Just then Jiraiya came back from the back room. "Hey gaki, you ready to go?" he asked.

Naruko turned to Jiraiya. "Yep!" She said enthusiastically. She then turned back to Tenten. "We'll still be friends when I get back right?" She asked.

Tenten nodded. "Of course!" she smiled and lifted up her pinkie. "Promise."

Naruko smiled back and wrapped her pinkie around Tenten's. "Alright!" She said with a nod.

Jiraiya smiled down at the two. "Alright we're off," he said and started walking out the door.

Naruko quickly ran after him. "Goodbye!" She waved to Tenten.

"Bye!" she waved back.

Once they left Tasha turned to Tenten. "She was a nice girl," she said.

Tenten smiled. "Yeah she was," Tenten said.

"Now what was it I heard about bulls eyes?" Tenten grinned and dragged her mom out to the back of the shop.

Jiraiya and Naruko were making there way to the gate. "Well gaki are you ready to begin this journey. Once we leave the gates there's no turning back," Jiraiya said.

Naruko looked up at Jiraiya then over to the Hokage Monument. "If I want to be up there I need this training. I'm not gonna back out!" Naruko declared and lifted her fist up to the sky.

Jiraiya chuckled. "Alright then. Your training trip begins now," he said as the two of them walked out of the village gates. They wouldn't return for the next seven years and Naruko knew she would become strong.

The two arrived in a small town a week later. Jiraiya got them a room to stay in at the inn and tossed his bag in a corner the moment he walked in. "Alright Naruko. We're gonna stay in town until you learn the three basic academy techniques along with the shadow clone after we work on your chakra control. I don't expect you to get these all on the first try since you're only five. However, if your clan was still alive those Jutsu would be required before you entered their academy. So I have full confidence you will be able to do them," Jiraiya stated. "But first up now is lunch. After that we'll go find a quiet place for you to train."

Naruko nodded enthusiastically. "Can't we just go start training now?" Naruko asked loudly. "I want to start right away!" Naruko made a valiant stand until her stomach grumbled loudly. Naruko rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Well maybe I could eat something," she chuckled.

Jiraiya shook his head with a smirk. "Let's go find something to eat," he said and walked out the door with Naruko hot on his heels.

"Ramen!" Naruko exclaimed.

Jiraiya laughed. "Yeah, you're definitely Kushina's daughter alright. That woman had one of the biggest appetites for ramen. But I'm not gonna let you eat only ramen. You're gonna eat healthier or you won't ever get stronger. So for now we're gonna go find something else," Jiraiya said.

Naruko pouted. "But I like ramen," she grumbled and crossed her arms.

Jiraiya chuckled. "Tell you what," he began. "With every technique you complete, I'll treat you to ramen. Until then no ramen. How's that sound?"

Naruko beamed up at him. "Ramen as a treat for finishing my training! That makes me want to train even harder than before!" Naruko yelled as they left the inn.

Jiraiya laughed. "Perfect. Now I know how to make you train harder," he said evilly rubbing his hands together. Naruko shuddered as he watched Jiraiya. "Don't worry, the hard training won't start until after you finish the shadow clone training."

Naruko sighed. She was worried for a moment. "Hey why don't we go eat over there?" Naruko pointed over to an outdoor grill. "It smells really good," she said with drool sliding down her chin.

Jiraiya looked over and shrugged. "Why not," he said and walked over with Naruko in tow. They sat down in front of one of the grills and quickly ordered. Jiraiya grilled the meat and veggies and gave a portion to Naruko. "Eat up gaki," he said as he dug into his food.

"I don't like green food," Naruko said and pushed the vegetables away.

Jiraiya sighed. "Do you want to train?" he asked with a mouthful of food. Naruko mumbled under her breath and unwillingly ate the veggies on her plate. Jiraiya smirked. "Keep talking gaki. We'll start the training with a thousand sit ups." Naruko sat up straighter and shut her mouth in an instant. "That's what I thought," Jiraiya chuckled.

"So what kind of cool techniques are you gonna teach me?" Naruko asked suddenly.

"Eventually you'll get to sign the toad summoning contract," Jiraiya began.

"What's that?" Naruko asked.

"It's the contract you sign so you can summon the toads from Mount Myobokuzan," Jiraiya replied. "But that won't be for a while. Your chakra reserves are fairly small right now, despite your heritage. To sign the contract and summon one of the toads would probably cause chakra exhaustion."

"Is that bad?" Naruko asked taking a mouthful of food.

"Severe cases of chakra exhaustion have been know to put shinobi into comas. Even more severe cases can kill you, but we'll make sure that doesn't happen," Jiraiya reassured and reached his chopsticks forward to grab some more meat but scraped against plate. He looked over and saw an empty plate and Naruko with a mouth full of food with sauce dripping from the corner of her mouth.

Naruko looked up at Jiraiya. "You were talking and I was hungry," Naruko shrugged and swallowed her food. "Sorry?"

Jiraiya stared at the girl for a few moments. "How?" he finally asked. "How is it that somebody so small could eat all that food?"

Naruko shrugged and downed her drink while Jiraiya ordered another round. When it came out he made sure to keep most of it away from the bottomless pit next to him. 'Kushina. You're daughter definitely got your appetite,' Jiraiya thought to himself.

Once they finished lunch Jiraiya brought Naruko out to a field away from town with a single tree. "What are we doing out here Sensei?" Naruko asked.

"We're going to work on your chakra control. You're going to hold this leaf on your forehead for as long as you can," Jiraiya said plucking a leaf from the tree. "Once you can successfully do that then we'll move on to the henge, the kawarimi, and lastly the Bunshin. Once that's done and over with, we'll begin working on the Kage Bunshin. Once that's done we are moving on to the next town."

Naruko nodded. "Alright! I'll nail this on the first try, dattebayo!" Naruko declared loudly.

'And she's got that annoying verbal tic too, gonna have to break her out of that eventually,' Jiraiya thought to himself. "Show me what you can do then," he challenged.

Naruko nodded and put the leaf to her forehead. She stood there holding the leaf for a moment before she turned to Jiraiya. "Umm. How exactly do I do this?" Naruko asked sheepishly.

Jiraiya sighed. "Focus your chakra to the leaf in the middle of your forehead. This will allow you to hold it there. But you must concentrate. You can't allow your mind to wander or it won't stick," Jiraiya said in a sagely tone.

Naruko nodded. She was determined to get this quickly. Naruko placed the leaf on her forehead and began to focus on it. She closed her eyes and felt her chakra reserves flowing. Suddenly she opened his eyes and the entire leaf was shredded apart. Jiraiya's eyes widened as did Naruko's.

"Umm, Sensei? Is that normal?" Naruko asked.

"No. That hasn't ever happened to my knowledge," Jiraiya said. "You must incredibly huge chakra reserves, but that honestly doesn't surprise me. Especially being an Uzumaki and that other thing." The last part was said more to himself while he was in thought.

"Other thing? Does that involve the Kyuubi?" Naruko asked making Jiraiya freeze.

"How do you know about that?" Jiraiya asked cautiously.

Naruko shrugged. "Before I woke up in the hospital, I was in a dark sewer. I walked around until I was in a room and I saw a giant fox that said it was the Kyuubi no Yoko. And I was able to change the way the room looked just by thinking about it. What does that mean exactly, Sensei?" Naruko asked.

Jiraiya sighed. "I was honestly hoping you wouldn't find out about that for a long time. Not until you were ready at least," Jiraiya began. He sighed again. "But yes the Kyuubi has a lot to do with why he leaf was completely shredded. The seal your father used to seal it within you was designed to allow its chakra to slowly seep into your chakra coils all the while being converted into safe chakra to use. Being an Uzumaki gives you large chakra reserves as it is, probably low chunin I'd guess. Add in the factor of the Kyuubi giving you chakra and it increases by a large margin." Jiraiya rubbed his chin in thought.

"This is going to make things much more difficult for you. Most likely when you try to perform any Jutsu you'll output too much chakra and the Jutsu won't even work. That or it will be a much weaker version," Jiraiya told Naruko.

Naruko sighed. "So I won't be able to do anything well then?" Naruko asked sadly.

Jiraiya put his hand on Naruko's head and ruffled her hair a bit, much to Naruko's annoyance. "Don't worry about it Naruko. As determined as you seem, I'm sure you will figure it out," Jiraiya encouraged. "Why don't you try and focus as little chakra as you can then place the leaf on your forehead. Only use as little as possible. It'll be difficult, but I've got confidence you'll get it."

Naruko nodded, a fire in her eyes. "Alright! I'm ready to get this finished and move on to the next step," Naruko yelled.

Jiraiya chuckled as he watched Naruko shred another leaf. He had a feeling that they would be there for a long time. "Don't forget, if you complete the stage, you get ramen," Jiraiya encouraged.

"I'll definitely get this now!" Naruko yelled.

Jiraiya chuckled as yet another leaf was destroyed. They were definitely going to be in this town for a while.

And here's chapter one. Hope you guys enjoy and please remember to Review/Fav/Follow. This is ForsakenAng3l signing off.

Ang3l: KURAMA CUT!

Kurama: Bite me!

Ang3l: *glares and pulls random lever. Trapdoor under Kurama opens and he falls into a tub of ice cold water*

Kurama: I'M GOING TO HAVE YOUR BALLS FOR THIS!

Ang3l: Not down there you're not! *turns away from Kurama* Anyway, I gotta go! Later!


	2. Things Get Tougher

Ang3l: Thanks for the feedback i got form you guys! It means a lot to me. Anyways here is chapter two, I've had this written out and was waiting to post until I got chapter 6 of Vengeance uploaded, but i just couldn't wait any longer!

In response to the reviews:

Hunter801: yes it will be. yuri all the way for this story

SanDemonMax: thank you for catching that, my computer decided datebook was a better word. it has been changed now.

ThunderClaw03: Thanks!

: i'll do my best to keep you coming back to read more

shinigami-shane: thank you very much! and i do plan to give her a different fighting style than just a simple brawler type. i've got a few ideas that i'm going with later on.

Random Baka: i do realize that there are some instances where i referred to Naruko as a boy, but that is because i had originally planned for this story to be based on NARUTO instead of NARUKO. i had already typed up almost the whole chapter when i decided to change the gender. but as for the next chapters i have made sure not to refer to her as a him. thank you for pointing that out though.

Spikesagitta: I'm glad you think that. I'm actually very excited to see where this story take me as well.

Ang3l: well enough of the formalities! on with the chapter! Kurama if you would please

Kurama: ForsakenAng3l does not own Naruto or any of its characters. if he did I'm sure i would be a much bigger badass than I already am.

Ang3l: easy there. your head still needs to fit out the door.

* * *

It took Naruko just under a month to finally figure out the leaf exercise by thinking of her chakra like a faucet that needed to be turned down. The idea came to her one night after getting a glass of water. If the faucet could be turned down to reduce the flow of water, then why not the chakra. Although it had taken Naruko a whole other week after to get it just right. She went from shredding the leaf completely to ripping it in pieces, then a few small cuts. Finally though she got it to stick to her forehead with ease.

Afterwords she caused Jiraiya, and the ramen shop chef, to gawk at the insane amount of ramen the kid could put away. Sixteen bowls of ramen later and she was back out in the field working on the transformation technique. It wasn't going well...

"Damnit! Why can't I get it right?!" Naruko yelled in frustration. For the last four days Naruko had been trying to transform into Jiraiya, and it wasn't going very well. "Argh! Wrong again!" At all...

"You've got to focus on every detail of the person," Jiraiya said from under the tree where he was writing in a notebook.

Naruko nodded. "I know that already, dattebayo!" Naruko yelled. She placed his hands in the ram seal and began to focus her chakra while picturing Jiraiya in her mind. Suddenly Naruko opened her eyes. "Henge!" Naruko yelled out.

An explosion of smoke surrounded Naruko as the Jutsu was executed. A light breeze blew the smoke away to reveal Jiraiya, only it wasn't exactly Jiraiya. This version of the man was much shorter and fatter. His nose came out to a point and his arms were completely un-proportioned to the rest of the body, reaching all the way to the ground.

Jiraiya sighed in exasperation. The henge was supposed to be one of the easiest Jutsu to learn and Naruko was having the hardest time he'd ever seen before. "Naruko, you've got the chakra control down to do it, but you're getting the details so very wrong," Jiraiya said.

"I get it! I don't know what I'm doing wrong!" Naruko yelled across the field as her transformation dissipated. "I'm imagining you perfectly in my mind when I do the Jutsu."

"How exactly are you imagining me?"Jiraiya asked curiously.

"Just like the way you are now," Naruko said.

"Ye- no..." Naruko said and hung her head.

Jiraiya nodded. "I think I see the problem you're having then. If you can't picture the person you are transforming into down to the last mole on their nose, the transformation will go wrong," Jiraiya said. "I want you to focus on every single detail about me before you begin to mold your chakra. Once you've done that, then you need to do the henge."

Naruko nodded and went over to Jiraiya and sat down across from him. Naruko stared at Jiraiya taking in every detail. From the marks under his eyes to the mole on his nose. From the length of his hair to the color of his clothes. Not a single detail was looked over this time. "Alright, this time for sure!" Naruko declared and jumped up. She placed her hands in the ram seal again and began to focus her chakra. "Henge!" Once the explosion of smoke cleared there was a perfect replica of Jiraiya standing before the real one.

The real Jiraiya stood up and walked around Naruko once before nodding. "Perfect. Well done Naruko," he said.

The transformed Naruko grinned and let the henge poof away. "Yes! Ramen! Ramen!" she chanted.

Jiraiya chuckled and ruffled the girls hair. "Good job Naruko," he said encouragingly. "Let's go get some ramen then."

Naruko pumped his fist up into the air. "Alright!" she yelled.

The two of them walked back into town and right into the ramen stand. Naruko immediately order her first five bowls of ramen while Jiraiya decided to not pig out and ordered only two.

"How do you eat all that gaki?" Jiraiya asked. "It's unnatural."

"What do you mean? I love ramen! It's the food of Kami!" Naruko exclaimed after finishing her fifth bowl. Jiraiya was wide eyed. He didn't even realize Naruko had eaten the first four. "Another six bowls please!"

Jiraiya shook his head. "The amount of ramen you can eat has got to be unhealthy. Where does it all go?" Jiraiya asked. Naruko just shrugged as she started on her seventh bowl of ramen. 'Maybe it's some form of hidden Uzumaki Kekkei Genkai,' Jiraiya thought to himself.

"You know I had a record board for the amount of ramen I could eat at one time back at Ichiraku's. 24 bowls was my best," Naruko said downing bow number ten and quickly beginning on the eleventh.

"You ate 24 bowls of ramen at one time without throwing up later?" Jiraiya asked wide eyed. "How?!"

Naruko shrugged. "I really love ramen," she said and finished her last bowl of ramen. Jiraiya still wasn't even halfway through his second bowl. "So what am I learning next?" Naruko asked.

"The kawarimi along with the nawanuke no Jutsu. Hopefully they won't be too hard for you. They are rather simple techniques, but we won't start learning that until tomorrow. For now you've earned yourself a day off for your hard work," Jiraiya said.

Naruko looked up at him. "But I want to train more! The quicker I can get these down the quicker we can start harder stuff!" Naruko exclaimed.

"Yes that's true," Jiraiya began. "But if you overwork yourself you won't be able to produce good results. A day of rest is always an essential part of training."

Naruko sighed. "Fine..." she said. "But tomorrow we are training!"

Jiraiya just laughed. "Yes yes," he waved Naruko off and paid for the ramen. "Now let's go back to the inn so you can wash up from your training. There's a festival going on tonight."

Naruko looked up at Jiraiya with hopeful eyes. "Really? I've never gotten to go to any festival before," she said sadly.

Jiraiya ruffled the girl's hair as they walked away from the ramen shop. "Yes really. And you don't have to worry about anything like what happened back at Konoha. Nobody even knows you here, except for maybe the outdoor grill owners and especially the ramen shop owner." Jiraiya laughed.

Naruko grinned her usual foxy grin. "Alright!" she exclaimed as they walked up the stairs in the inn to their room. Naruko rushed in and quickly showered and got dressed. She then went into the main room and sat down to wait for Jiraiya. Naruko pulled out her book and started reading where she left off. During the times that they weren't training, Jiraiya was teaching Naruko how to read and write calligraphy. The reading was easy for Naruko, but the calligraphy was a training on a whole other level. Sure Naruko could write some basic kanji but the forms that Jiraiya was teaching were ridiculous! For now Naruko would just elect to read.

Naruko had to admit, it was a good book. 'I wonder why Sensei didn't continue this with another book? It's really good,' Naruko thought to herself as she turned the page.

Once Jiraiya had finished getting ready, Naruko bookmarked her placed and followed her Sensei back out into the street. Naruko hadn't paid much attention earlier, but you could definitely see the signs of a festival going on. She was amazed at all the bright colors and the many different stalls. They ranged from ring toss to goldfish scooping. They even had some that had to deal with throwing shuriken. Naruko immediately went from stall to stall watching everything and storing it to memory.

Suddenly a prize at one of the stalls caught her attention. It wasn't the biggest prize, but the little fox plush animal seemed to draw Naruko in. The game was simple enough, just toss a ring and hope it loops around a wooden post.

"Hey Sensei, can I play that one?" Naruko pointed over to the ring toss.

Jiraiya nodded. "Sure. Do you know how to play it?" he asked.

Naruko nodded enthusiastically. "Just toss those rings and get it on that post over there," Naruko said.

Jiraiya nodded. "Alright, have at it," he said and paid the stall owner. Naruko grabbed the rings and tossed them one by one, each one just barely missing its mark. Naruko hung her head. "Try again gaki," Jiraiya said, patting Naruko's shoulder.

Naruko looked up, determination in her eyes. "This time I'm gonna get it!" she declared and took the rings again. She tossed the first, it sailed over the post. The second one tossed smacked the side and bounced away. Naruko stuck her tongue out of the corner of her mouth slightly and stared at the post before tossing the ring. It sailed through the air and hooked the post; the ring spun around for a moment before falling down. Naruko threw her hands up into the air and cheered. "Yatta!" she cheered. "I got it!"

Jiraiya chuckled. The stall owner leaned down to Naruko. "Alright, pick a prize sweetie," he said.

Naruko immediately pointed up to the fox. "That one!" she exclaimed.

The stall owner smiled and reached up and grabbed the fox down and handed it to Naruko. "Here you go. Good job!" he told Naruko.

Naruko clutched the fox plushie and walked down the street with Jiraiya. Naruko was no longer interested in the stalls anymore, with the exception of those with food. She continued to clutch the fox to her chest as the night went on. Eventually she began to grow tired and proceeded to have to be carried back to the inn.

Jiraiya opened the door and laid Naruko down on her bed. She was still clutching the fox to her chest as she slept. Jiraiya sat down over on his bed and pulled out a map of the Elemental Nations. He looked over the area where he knew his Summons resided. Hidden from the world in plain sight. Jiraiya's eyes passed over one of the forested areas that was rumored to have three of the greatest summonings ever. Maybe he'd take Naruko there when she got older to try and find one of those summoning contracts. Even the weakest of those three was stronger than the three Sannin's summons. Unless of course the girl wanted to sign the toad contract.

Jiraiya put the map up before laying down on his bed. He pushed those thoughts from his head. It was still a long time away before Naruko was even ready for summoning anything. Until then, the Sannin would sleep.

"Argh! What the hell!" Naruko yelled. She was currently tied to the only tree in the field practicing the escape technique. Jiraiya had said that before Naruko was going to start the kawarimi, she'd have to figure out how to escape from being tied up first. At least that was what Jiraiya said, Naruko was sure there was something else behind this stage of training though. Probably just a form of entertainment for Jiraiya to see his student tied to a tree.

"How the hell am I supposed to do this crap?!" Naruko yelled.

Jiraiya laughed. "Just focus your chakra to the bonds around you and will them to drop away," Jiraiya explained.

"I know that!" Naruko yelled. "I've been trying to do that for the past four days!"

"We'll keep trying. Otherwise it's gonna be one cold night tonight," Jiraiya told his student.

Naruko strained against the bonds for a moment before relaxing back against the tree. "Why is this so hard?" Naruko asked, not really to anybody.

"You're outputting too much chakra again. Remember the henge? If you put too much chakra into it, then it wouldn't work or come out deformed," Jiraiya said.

"But aren't you supposed to put a lot of chakra out to break free?" Naruko asked.

Jiraiya nodded sagely. "Yes, but you're trying to force it all at once in one quick burst. That would work if you were trying to break the rope entirely. What you need to do is gradually let your chakra out," he explained.

Naruko nodded and closed her eyes. She began to focus her chakra out around the bonds slower this time. Sure enough she felt the ropes loosen. Naruko grinned and tried to get out only to feel the ropes back in the same place again. "Argh! I almost had it!" Naruko yelled.

"Don't break your concentration. If you do that the ropes will just re-tighten themselves," Jiraiya said.

Naruko hung her head. "Alright. This time for sure!" she said and raised her head up, eyes closed. This time when the ropes started to loosen Naruko didn't break focus. Sure enough the ropes loosened enough and fell to the ground around Naruko's feet. "I got it!" she exclaimed and jumped up with her fist in the air.

"Good work. Part one of this step is done. Now part two is the kawarimi," Jiraiya said.

"Ramen?" Naruko asked.

"Not until part two is finished. I told you this step has two parts," Jiraiya replied. "Now you're going to kawarimi with parts of this tree."

"OK easy! Just show me how to do that and I'll get it down quick," Naruko said making Jiraiya grin. For some reason that grin made Naruko shiver. The man was planning something that Naruko had a feeling she wouldn't like.

"Sure. But it's going to be harder for you," Jiraiya said, that same grin still on his face. "You're going to be tied up and you're going to kawarimi just yourself with a part of the tree. No ropes can go with you. That's whys I wanted you to get the escape Jutsu down first."

Naruko hung his head. "More ropes again..." she grumbled.

Jiraiya's grin only widened. "That's not even the best part. I get to throw water balloons at you. Each one you get hit by will be considered a shuriken," he said mischievously.

Naruko's eyes widened. "Whaaat!?" she yelled.

Jiraiya laughed almost evilly. "Let's begin stage two!"

The next stage seemed to go more smoothly for Naruko. She completed the kawarimi in about two days. And after nearly twenty bowls of ramen, the two of them were out in the field once again. This time it was the Bunshin that Naruko was practicing.

Needless to say it was going easier than the others. Things were looking good for Naruko currently, well if you count having piss poor looking clones appear in a very large cloud of smoke good. The most recent attempt had a sickly clone lying on the ground. It was almost pale white and smoking lightly.

"Pitiful," Jiraiya said.

Naruko hung her head. "This is the worst Jutsu ever!" Naruko exclaimed as she flopped back on her back.

"At least you're able to replicate," Jiraiya said. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "You can't really use the same method you did as the henge here. Why not making more than one clone?"

Naruko looked over at Jiraiya for a quick second before standing up quickly. She placed her hands in the ram seal. "Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruko called out. This time when the smoke cleared there were over twenty perfect clones. "I did it!" she exclaimed.

"Good work, gaki. I guess ramen is in order ne-" Jiraiya was cut off.

"Teach me the Kage Bunshin first!" Naruko exclaimed. "The Bunshin Jutsu is only step one for the Kage Bunshin."

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow. "Well alright then," he said. Jiraiya made the clone seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," the man called out. A perfect replica of Jiraiya appeared beside him. "You got it?"

"Yeah!" Naruko exclaimed. "The first try!" Naruko put her hands into the clone seal and began to focus her chakra.

"Yeah that's what you said about the last ones too," Jiraiya said with a yawn as he sat down and leaned against the tree.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto called out. Jiraiya was knocked back by a huge explosion of smoke.

"What the hell gaki?!" Jiraiya exclaimed. He jumped up to his feet and waved the smoke out of his face. Jiraiya widened his eyes when the smoke cleared. There were at least two hundred Naruko clones in the field. "How in the hell?"

"I told you I'd get it one the first try," over two hundred voices rang out at the same time.

"Well I'll be damned," Jiraiya said. "Good job. Now disperse the clones but leave just one of them."

"OK?" Naruko did just that. Once the smoke cleared there were only two Narukos standing in the field. "Now what?"

Jiraiya made another clone of his own. "Our clones are going to go into the woods over there and play rock-paper-scissors then disperse," he said.

Naruko nodded and looked at her clone. "You heard the man," Naruko said.

"Right hime," the clone said and followed Jiraiya's clone into the woods.

Clone Naruko and clone Jiraiya faced each other. "Ready, gaki?" Jiraiya's clone asked. Naruko's clones nodded.

"Janken!" they called out at the same time. Naruko and Jiraiya's clones both looked at their hands then dispersed in two puffs of smoke.

"Alright Naruko who won?" The real Jiraiya asked.

Naruko scratched her head. "Me. But how do I know that? I wasn't actually there?" Naruko asked confused.

"The Kage Bunshin is considered a Kinjutsu due to being extremely chakra consuming, clearly a problem you won't have. It's also a great way to train," Jiraiya explained.

"How so?" Naruko asked.

"Imagine training with a clone for an hour then dispersing said clone. You would get two hours worth of training in a single hour. Now in your case imagine creating fifty clones and training for an hour. That's just over two days worth of training in one single hour," Jiraiya explained further. "Although the massive headache that would come with that afterwords would suck tremendously. But I guess to bypass that you would just disperse the clones one at a time. You'd still get the headache but it would be lessened."

Naruko was amazed at the thought of being able to train for days within the span of a couple hours or pull a multitude of pranks at one time... "That's so cool!" Naruko yelled and pumped her fist into the air. "I can't wait to start training with them!"

"I figured you'd feel that way, but right now we are moving on to the next town," Jiraiya said.

"After ramen!" Naruko exclaimed making Jiraiya sigh into his hand.

"Yes after ramen," he said exasperated. "I still don't understand how you can eat so much of that stuff and not get tired of it."

Naruko shrugged. "I've never really thought about it that much. All I know is that I love ramen!" Naruko said grinning proudly.

Jiraiya simply shook his head and walked back toward the town with Naruko hot on his heels. Once they ate their bowls of ramen, 19 in Naruko's case, they packed up their things from the inn and checked out.

"So Sensei, where are we going next?" Naruko asked. "When do we get to go to Uzushio?"

"We won't be going to Uzu for a while. Not until your stronger, much stronger than what you are now," Jiraiya said. "I was thinking of going to Nami no Kuni (Land of Waves) next. There we will be able to practice your chakra control better."

Naruko listened intently to her Sensei. "What kind of chakra control? I thought I had good control already?" she asked.

Jiraiya scoffed lightly. "Hardly. You've only just begun to grasp the basics of chakra control. There are two more steps for you to take before you will get close to excellent chakra control," he said sagely.

"What are those steps?" Naruko asked.

"The first is tree walking," Jiraiya said. "Only no hands are allowed."

Naruko looked up amazed. "You mean I could walk upside down on ceilings?!" she asked excitedly. "That sounds awesome!"

Jiraiya chuckled. "Then you're gonna love the next step. Water walking," the toad sage said with a grin. Naruko's own grin only grew wider. "But they require excellent chakra control to do." Naruko didn't hear the last part as she thought about the many pranks she could pull if she could walk on walls and water. "Hey gaki, you listening to me?" Jiraiya asked irritably.

Naruko was pulled from her thoughts. "Huh?" she asked. "Did you say something?"

Jiraiya sighed. "Never mind," he sighed again. The two of them exited town and began the trip to Nami no Kuni.

"Ow! Damnit that hurts like hell!" Naruko yelled as she rolled on the ground clutching her head. They had arrived in Nami no Kuni after a couple weeks of traveling which involved Naruko using her clones to read basic scrolls on the history of Konoha, the fundamentals of chakra, and the three main types of Jutsu. Jiraiya didn't want Naruko to lose any knowledge she wouldn't gain from the academy, not that Naruko would've paid attention in class anyway.

Each night that they camped, Jiraiya tested the girl lightly after she dispersed the clone and let the headache go away. Needless to say, despite her hyperactive personality, she was a very smart kid when she applied herself. Naruko hated the lessons, of course, but pushed through it.

Once they arrived in Nami no Kuni, Jiraiya got them a place to stay at an inn and immediately went to find a clearing in the woods with a body of water close by. He explained how tree walking worked while walking up a tree with his hands in his pockets. And told Naruko to try it herself after tossing a kunai at Naruko's feet.

Now Naruko was attempting to climb the tree all the way to the top in one go. It wasn't going very well. She had multiple bumps and bruises on her head and body and only had a few marks about ten feet up the tree.

Naruko grumbled as she glared at the last mark. "Damnit, what's the trick to this?!" Naruko yelled.

"Just focus your chakra to the soles of your feet, but not too much or you'll push off the tree as you experienced firsthand," Jiraiya explained from a few trees away. He was sitting on the ground writing in that same little notebook he always carried. Naruko had asked what it was for but Jiraiya simply answered that it was a research notebook with a small wiggle of his eyebrows. Naruko was confused at what the man could possibly be researching but she shrugged it off. Little did Naruko know, Jiraiya would send a shadow clone to go peep on public baths and hot springs in the woman's section every day for his books.

"I've been trying that for the last several hours!" Naruko yelled across the clearing, scattering any wildlife in the area.

"Did you forget what I said about your Kage Bunshin?" Jiraiya asked.

Naruko nearly smacked her face against the tree she was running at but only tripped and landed on her back. She stood up and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Maybe..." Naruko said quietly. Jiraiya just sighed as Naruko made the clone seal. "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" Naruko called out. About fifty clones appeared in the clearing. "Alright pick a tree and start the exercise!" Naruko commanded his clones.

"Right hime!" they called out in unison. Jiraiya watched amazed at the amount of respect Naruko's clones gave the original. His own clones were mouthy to no end and always seemed to chastise the man about something. He suddenly flinched as he felt the memories of current shadow clone come to him. A rather busty brunette found him out and proceeded to kick Jiraiya in a special place. Jiraiya sighed. Maybe that was why his clones were mouthy... He shrugged and began writing in his notebook again.

The clones all focused their chakra before charging towards their respective tree. This time they got higher than the last time by a large margin before falling off. A couple of clones weren't able to right themselves before landing on their heads and disappearing in puffs of smoke. The clones memories went to every clone telling them what they did wrong and how not to do it.

Jiraiya watched as Naruko climbed as high as she could be every time before falling. He looked up and noticed the sun was going down. "Alright gaki, let's head back for the night. You've probably exhausted a lot of your chakra today," he called over to Naruko.

Naruko and her clones all turned to the sage and nodded. "Alright," she said and dispelled her clones all at once.

"Wait Naruko don't!" Jiraiya yelled, but it was too late. The smoke cleared and Naruko suddenly looked very woozy. Naruko reached up and grabbed her head before falling to the ground unconscious. Jiraiya rushed over to her and picked her up. "You completely forgot what I said about the headaches," he said with a shake of his head.

Jiraiya proceeded to carry Naruko back to the inn and set the girl down on her bed. "She's probably gonna be out for a couple days at least," Jiraiya said to himself before going over to his bed and laying down himself before falling into a deep sleep.

The next morning Jiraiya awoke to sunlight in his face. He rolled over and saw Naruko wasn't in her bed. "Morning Sensei," Naruko said from the living area. Jiraiya blinked. There were five Naruko's sitting around the table each reading a different scroll. Three were reading the scrolls Jiraiya had given Naruko on her birthday and the other two were going over taijutsu scrolls.

"How are you awake right now?" Jiraiya asked. "You should be asleep for the next couple of days at least."

Naruko shrugged. "Ask hime. I think she said it had something to do with the Kyuubi," he said.

"Wait did you say hime? Are you all clones?" Jiraiya blinked.

The Naruko's all nodded. "Hime is out in the clearing tree walking right now," another clone said. "She wanted us to go over these scrolls today so she wasn't just focusing on chakra control."

Jiraiya nodded. "Smart," he complimented. "Just don't dispel all at once again like yesterday. One at a time."

The Naruko's all nodded as Jiraiya got dressed and then left the room to go to the clearing. This was after he made a shadow clone to go research, of course. Once he arrived in the clearing he looked around only to find nobody there. "I thought the gaki's clone said she was out here," Jiraiya wondered aloud.

He suddenly reached out and caught a kunai that was thrown in his direction. He looked up and saw Naruko, along with his clones, standing at the top of their trees. He smirked up at his student. "Good work Naruko. Now get down here and I'll explain the next step," he said. "Oh and dispel your clones one at a time this time."

"Got it!" Naruko nodded and went to work letting her clones dispel one at a time. Once the last one went up in smoke she climbed down the tree using her feet only. On the ground she rushed over to Jiraiya.

"Alright now to do the water walking you need to exert a constant flow of chakra to you feet. Otherwise you'll fall through the water," Jiraiya said.

Naruko nodded. "OK. We can begin after ramen!" she all but ordered.

Jiraiya chuckled. "Sure whatever," he said and walked with Naruko into town. They quickly found a ramen shop, Naruko almost had a sixth sense when it came to finding ramen stands.

They sat down and ordered their food. Naruko once again baffling someone else at the amount of ramen she could put away into seemingly nowhere. "How in the hell did that girl eat that much ramen?" the shop owner wondered aloud as the two of them walked away into town.

Once Jiraiya and Naruko got back into the clearing, Naruko immediately made fifty clones and walked over to the water. "So what's the trick with this step?" Naruko asked Jiraiya.

"You need to keep a constant flow of chakra to the soles of your feet. If you don't do that you will fall through the water," the man explained.

Naruko nodded before herself and the clones all focused their chakra to their feet. They walked out over the water for a couple of steps before tripping and falling into the icy cold water. The Naruko's all shot up out of the water in a matter of seconds. "That's cold!" They yelled in unison.

"Keep the chakra flow constant gaki," Jiraiya called out from where he had taken a seat. This step was going to be very entertaining to say the least.

Sure enough it was, for Jiraiya at least. Naruko... Not so much. Even with the help of her clones it took Naruko an entire cold, wet week, but she finally got it down pat.

Naruko was now standing in the center of the pond on her hands. "Hey Sensei, how's this?" Naruko asked with a grin.

Jiraiya smirked. "Good work gaki. Dispel your clones that you've got reading your scrolls and then do the same that are practicing the taijutsu katas," he told his student. "One at a time," Jiraiya reminded Naruko.

Naruko jumped back to her feet before walking back over to shore. She nodded and dispelled her clones one by one, regaining all of their memories. The clones reading the scrolls gave her as much info on Uzumaki style taijutsu as the scrolls she had held. It was only a basic style, but much stronger than the simple academy style for Konoha. Then the clones that were practicing said taijutsu began to dispel. The only clones that were left were the one that were working on calligraphy and reading more into the history of Uzushio and Konoha.

Naruko closed her eyes and let the headache recede before she opened them. She shifted into a taijutsu stance with her feet spread apart and her arms raised up in a loose guard, one in front and one behind him. "This was the only taijutsu stance that was on Kaa-sans scroll. Maybe there are some more scrolls in Uzushio," Naruko said as she focused on Jiraiya.

Jiraiya took his own relaxed stance and watched the girl closely. It had been a long time since he went up against the Uzumaki taijutsu style. Even the basic style was unpredictable. "We'll come on then," Jiraiya challenged.

Naruko nodded and rushed forward, quickly closing the gap between herself and Jiraiya. Despite her small size, Naruko was incredibly quick. She sent a punch up at Jiraiya's head only for the man to duck under and dodge back to quickly avoid the sudden kick sent his way. Definitely unpredictable. Naruko landed and charged forward again and quickly made two clones to attack with. While the real Naruko went straight towards Jiraiya, the other two went to flank him. Jiraiya had to duck and jump between a high punch and low sweeping kick. He spun in the air and went to attack the clones but immediately had to block an ax kick from the real Naruko.

Jiraiya caught her foot and flipped the girl backwards then quickly took care of the clones before turning to face Naruko and two more Kage Bunshin. Jiraiya sighed. Facing three of the same taijutsu style at the same time was a pain in the ass, even if the kid was only just beginning.

"You've got some pretty good moves gaki," Jiraiya commented as he dodged another two blows. He had lost track of where the real Naruto was during the spar and was actually being pushed to taking it more seriously.

"Thanks. My clones have been practicing since we started the water walking," Naruto said. "And through that..." "I've figured out surprise is the key to any fight!" Naruko yelled from above. Jiraiya looked up and saw four Naruko's all bearing down on him. "Uzumaki rendan!" They all called out at once. Their fists and feet all crashed down, small chunks of earth exploded upward in the barrage of fists and feet. When the smoke cleared Jiraiya was nowhere to be seen.

"That was clever gaki, but I'm one of the Sannin. A trick like that won't work on me," Jiraiya called out and quickly dispatched every clone in the vicinity and swung his fist at Naruko only to stop centimeters from Naruko's cheek.

Naruko had her eyes closed tightly and her jaw clenched, expecting a hard blow to the face. When she felt no pain, she slowly opened her eyes and saw Jiraiya's fist very close to her face. Naruko gulped at the sudden closeness of the fist that would've surely knocked her out for a few days at least.

"You've got some good moves and you're very unpredictable. That could be key in an actual fight," Jiraiya said as he pulled his first back allowing Naruko to relax. "You've done a good job with your training so far. Now the real training begins. Staring every day you're going to train your body to accommodate your fighting style. You'll get up early and train until I say to stop. This is where it gets tough. I will not make it easy for you."

Naruko nodded determinedly. "I'm not gonna back down. Not when I've come this far!" Naruko declared.

Jiraiya nodded. "Good. Now come at me again. Don't hold back!" he yelled and got into a defensive stance before Naruko charged forward.

The next stage of training, and hell, begins.

(Time skip: 2 years)

"You've got to be quicker than that Naruko," Jiraiya said as he ducked under a spin kick aimed towards his head.

"And you need to keep better track of all my clones Ero Sennin!" Naruko taunted as four clones charged from four different directions. Jiraiya jumped over one of the clones and used his foot to push it straight into another. They both dispelled in puffs of smoke, blocking the sight of the other two. This gave Jiraiya enough time to take them out quickly.

"I know where every single clone you've got is at brat! And I told you to stop calling me that! It gives people the wrong idea that I'm not to be respected," Jiraiya yelled back.

"Well when you openly peep on the woman's bathes its to be expected," Naruko replied casually as she threw a handful of shuriken at her sensei. "Fuuton: Daitoppa!" she called out. Naruko had been taught a basic wind Jutsu after figuring out her chakra affinity. It surprised Jiraiya that she had three affinities in total. A strong wind and water with a weaker lightning one. The sage hypothesized that it was probably her Uzumaki heritage. They were know to have strong water affinities, and the wind probably came from her father.

Needless to say Jiraiya knew a decent wind Jutsu that Naruko could learn early on for her training. And it proved to be pretty useful. Especially now when Jiraiya had to move out of the shurikens path quickly. 'She's getting better at that. Her timing is a little off but it's improving greatly. Even her use of clones is getting better,' Jiraiya thought to himself as he knocked away a kick from a clone.

"Eat this!" Naruko roared as she brought down a hard ax kick towards Jiraiya's head. Jiraiya jumped out of the way just in time. He watched as the heel crashed into the ground and split it apart in a 2 meter radius. Ever since Naruko tried to put chakra into her strikes at the moment of impact she had become much stronger.

"You know one of my old teammates does that same thing you're doing with chakra. Only its in a much more explosive force. Be careful when you're doing that," Jiraiya warned. "And slow down a little bit. You're moving way to fast for your body to handle."

"Yeah right! If I don't move this fast there's no way for me to beat you!" Naruko retorted. She moved around behind Jiraiya and jumped up to spin kick him in the head. Jiraiya ducked and sent a high kick up at Naruko. The kicks collided together and pushed them back, Naruko further than Jiraiya. Naruko was immediately charging forward again.

Jiraiya immediately blocked a hard right and spun around Naruko causing Naruko to spin herself, only she spun much too quickly. Naruko and Jiraiya both heard a very loud pop then snap.

A searing pain shot up through Naruko's leg and ankle making her fall to the floor in a heap. She immediately grabbed her right knee and ankle. "Argh! What the hell was that?!" Naruko yelled in agony. "It hurts so much!"

Jiraiya squatted down beside her and put his hand on his students shoulder. "Calm down. It sounded like you might've popped your knee out of place and snapped a tendon," he said. "It's probably gonna hurt for a little while, even with your healing factor taken into account." Jiraiya helped Naruko stand up. "Can you put any weight on it?"

Naruko put her foot on the ground and nearly toppled over from the sudden shock. Naruko shook her head with tears in her eyes. Her jaw was clenched tight and her hands were curled into tight balls. "I can't. It hurts to much," Naruko choked out.

Jiraiya nodded. "Alright. Well let's go back to the inn. I was wanting to move on from here anyway. We've been in wave for too long I think. We might as well have rented an apartment here," Jiraiya chuckled as he helped Naruko limp along.

"We practically own that room now," Naruko joked through the pain.

Jiraiya laughed lightly. "That's true. And the ramen shop owner always enjoys your business," he commented.

Naruko laughed herself. "I love ramen! What did you expect Ero Sennin?" Naruko asked with a grin.

Jiraiya rolled his eyes at the nickname that he was clearly never going to be rid of. "It's Sensei to you gaki," he groaned. "You're never going to let that go are you?"

"Nope. Besides I'm not the one who introduces himself as, and I quote, a "Super Pervert" am I?" Naruko asked with as much sarcasm as she could muster. "So where are we heading next?"

"I was thinking of heading to Mizu no Kuni (Land of Water). Maybe we could find you some scrolls to train your water affinity," Jiraiya said.

Naruko nodded. "Do you think I'll be able to train my wind affinity more there as well?" she asked.

Jiraiya just shrugged. "Maybe. But I'd rather wait until we cross through Taki no Kuni (Land of Waterfalls). It'll be easier to do that there since the place is abundant in waterfalls," Jiraiya said sagely. "But for only completing step one of that training you've got it figured out quite well."

Naruko thought back to when she first started working with training her wind affinity. She had spent two weeks trying to cut the leaf in half with her chakra. Even with the help of over two hundred clones it took her a long time. "What's the next part got to do with a waterfall?" Naruko asked curiously.

"You're supposed to be able to split a waterfall using only your chakra. Splitting a waterfall is supposed to be the hardest part of any elemental chakra training. Although it's the least dangerous," Jiraiya explained.

"What's the most dangerous?" Naruko asked.

"Lightning affinity training. Something to do with actual lightning bolts. Honestly I'd rather not try and figure it out myself. But I'm sure you want to try it out, huh?" the man asked.

Naruko nodded vigorously. "It may be my weakest affinity, but I'm sure it would be very useful to have all three affinities at max power," Naruko stated. "I want to be able to use them all efficiently."

Jiraiya smirked at his student's determination. "And I'm sure you'll get it figured out. But for now let's get that leg checked out," he said as they walked through the door of the inn.

The receptionist looked up from his desk. "Get hurt training Naruko?" he asked.

"A little," Naruko replied and rubbed the back of her head.

"A little my ass. You popped you knee out of place. I told you to slow down," Jiraiya said, shaking his head. "But you didn't listen did you?"

Naruko stuck her tongue out at her sensei. "Whatever," Naruko grumbled.

The receptionist laughed. Naruko had grown on the man in the last two years. She was always a ray of sunshine that seemed to cheer anybody who met the blonde right up. "Oh by the way. We'll be checking out after Naruko's leg heals," Jiraiya said.

The receptionist saddened at that. "I'm sorry to hear that. It's definitely been a pleasure having you two stay here," the man said.

"Likewise," Jiraiya said. "Come on let's go out some ice on that knee gaki."

"You got it," Naruko said and hopped up the stairs with the help of Jiraiya. They made their way to the room they had called home for the last two years and quickly went inside. Jiraiya helped Naruko over to his bed and laid the girl down.

"Just wait here for a minute and I'll get some ice for you," the man said. "Don't try to stand on it to get something. You better tell me now before I leave."

"Can I have your book?" Naruko asked.

Jiraiya nodded. "How many times are you gonna read that book?" he asked.

Naruko shrugged. "As many times as I can. It's a good book," he said.

"Well I'm glad somebody likes it. It hardly sold when I published it," the man said slightly saddened. He grabbed the book and handed it to Naruko.

"I don't know why. It's a really good book," the girl said as she took the book and began reading where she left off.

"Well anyway, we're gonna relax for a couple of days before we head out so if I were you I'd get some rest."

"Yeah I will."

"Good. Can't have you falling over from exhaustion when we head to Mizu no Kuni."

Naruko just waved the man off. "I'm not gonna fall over from exhaustion," Naruko reassured.

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow before he left to go get ice. When he returned Naruko was asleep on the bed with her book laying on her chest. Jiraiya smirked at the girl as he gently placed the ice on Naruko's knee affected knee and ankle. Later on Jiraiya would summon one of his toads to get some healing oil, but for now he'd let Naruko sleep.

Naruko woke up in a clearing surrounded by a forest on all sides. She looked around for a moment then remembered where she was. This was her mindscape. She hadn't been in here since the day before she left with Jiraiya.

"Hey Kyuubi! Where are you?" Naruko yelled out.

When she received no answer, Naruko shrugged and began to walk into the forest. She had seemingly forgotten that she was currently unable to walk in the real world. In here it seemed as though she felt no pain at all. Naruko walked for what felt like half an hour before coming upon another clearing. Here she spotted the giant fox sleeping.

"Hey Kyuubi!" Naruko yelled.

The fox opened one of it's eyes and glared at the girl. "So you're back in here. It's been over two years. Why now brat?" the fox growled.

Naruko shrugged. "I kinda don't know how to get in here," Naruko said with a nervous chuckled. She rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

The fox rolled it's visible eye. "It's not that hard to do brat. Just close your eyes and focus on this place," the fox growled.

"So kinda like meditating?" Naruko asked.

"Something like that," the fox said. "Now what do you want?"

"I don't know. I didn't really come here on purpose. Do you like the forest?" Naruko suddenly asked.

The fox merely huffed. "It's better than the sewer I was in," it growled.

"Good!" Naruko smiled up at the fox. This action confused the fox greatly.

"Why don't you fear me human?" the fox growled.

"I don't know," Naruko shrugged. "You don't seem that bad. Just misunderstood, right?"

The fox narrowed it's eye at the girl. "And why would you care?" Kyuubi growled raising its head to stare at Naruko with both eyes, adding to the intimidation factor.

Naruko looked down. "Cause we were both misunderstood," she said quietly.

"It doesn't matter to me. I am a being of pure hatred!" the fox growled.

Naruko shrugged. "Sure thing fuzzball. There's gotta be something you cared about in your lifetime," Naruko said.

The fox narrowed his eyes. "There was one such a person, but he's long gone now. So it doesn't matter!"

"What was the person like?" Naruko asked sitting down cross legged.

"He was a wise man. The only person I ever had any respect for, and ever will," the fox growled. "Now leave your bothering me." He turned around and laid down on his paws.

Naruko stood up and turned to leave. "Why would they want you to hate others then?" Naruko asked. Seeing that the fox wouldn't answer she vanished from the seal.

The fox glared at the sky for a moment before closing its eyes and falling asleep.

_Naruko woke up the next day to the sun in her face and the sound of... Croaking? Naruko's eyes shot open and she turned her head over to Jiraiya. Currently the man was talking to a rather large toad, and it seemed to be talking back.

Naruko rolled out of bed and put her feet down, only to feel a slight tingling feeling in her right leg. Naruko walked over to where Jiraiya was sitting. "Morning Naruko. How's the leg?" he asked.

"It tingles a bit," Naruko replied. "What's up with the toad Ero Sennin?"

"It's one of my messenger toads. They are also great for transporting things to me," the man said.

"What kinda things?" Naruko asked with a small yawn.

"Healing oil from Myobokuzan. I had some brought here to help with the leg," Jiraiya said, pointing to Naruko's still slightly injured leg. "Come over here and I'll put this stuff on your leg."

Naruko nodded and walked over to Jiraiya and sat down beside him. Jiraiya quickly applied the oil then wrapped her leg up. Once he was finished with that, Jiraiya closed the oil and put it back into the scroll it was sealed into, then placed said scroll back onto the toads back. "Thanks. Tell Ma'am and Pa I said hello," Jiraiya said before the road reverse summoned itself.

"Who's Ma'am and Pa?" Naruko asked. "Are they your parents?"

Jiraiya laughed. "No. Their not my parents, but they are a couple whom I hold in the highest respect," he said.

"Wow. Are they strong?" Naruko asked.

"Oh yeah. Pa taught me the Sage Arts and his wife can make some good grub," Jiraiya said with a small laugh. "Now your leg should be healed up enough for us to move on. Let's go to Kiri."

Naruko nodded and stood up. "Will I learn to be a sage like you?" Naruko asked curiously.

"If you think you're up to it. Even I haven't fully mastered it yet. And I started when I was 13," Jiraiya replied.

Naruko's eyes widened significantly. "Is it that hard to master?!" she asked rather loudly.

Jiraiya dug his pinkie in his ear to clear it out from Naruko's outburst. "Yes. Yes it is. A perfect Sage Mode give the user great power. Mine still gives me a significant power boost, but it leaves some side effects. Such as a larger nose, webbed hands and feet, and very sharp teeth. So I don't use it that often," the man explained as they left the inn and headed for the docks.

Naruko and Jiraiya quickly found a ship and paid the man half upfront to take them to Kiri. The trip would take about four days with good weather and Naruko planned to use those four days to their fullest with training. At least that was the plan until the monkey wrench know as seasickness was thrown into the mix. No, it wasn't Naruko who got sick. It was Jiraiya. Yes the great Toad Sage, one of the three Legendary Sannin, the man who makes the loins of every women tremble when they see him, was brought down by...seasickness...

Naruko sweat dropped as she watched her Sensei barf over the railing of the ship. This was only a few hours into the trip. "Come on Ero Sennin, let's get you to your bed. You're clearly in no condition to be up here awake," Naruko said as she made a clone to help her carry her Sensei.

"I thought I told you to-" he was cut off as he nearly hurled again before calming it down. "To not call me that, gaki." He voice was barely above a whisper.

The two Naruko's shook their heads. "Whatever Ero Sennin," she said and helped the man to bed. Jiraiya flopped down on his bed and immediately turned over and hurled into a strategically placed bucket. "I'm not changing that bucket Sensei," Naruko told the man as she made two more clones. "Alright you guys. You two read more on the history of Konoha and Uzushio. While me and you are going to spar below decks."

"Right, Hime," the clones said. Two of them began to read up on the scrolls while the real Naruko and her other clone traversed the ship to go down below the decks where nobody was currently at. They each stood apart from one another and stared, each in the basic Uzumaki Taijutsu stance.

(Fire Up the Night by New Medicine begins playing)

The ship creaked and a single water droplet fell from the ceiling between them. The moment it splashed to the deck the two Naruko's dashed forward. Both kicks collided in midair before pushing back away from each other. The girls landed and charged forward again. Naruko blocked a punch from her clone then sent her knee up towards its ribcage only for it to be blocked by a hard elbow slamming down on her kneecap. Pain shot down her leg but the momentum allowed her to spin on her still grounded foot and swing the other heel towards her clones head. Her clone ducked down and kick Naruko away before charging forward. Naruko quickly regained her balance and blocked a quick uppercut then ducked under a kick. Naruko immediately swept her clones leg out from under her trying to trip her.

The clone immediately caught herself with her hands and did a back handspring to regain her balance. The two stared at each other before attacking again. This time Naruko took charge of the fight and slammed her heel into her clones chest and pushed her back while doing a flip in midair. When she landed, Naruko immediately jumped forward and sent a spin kick at her clones head. The clone quickly blocked the foot only to have to jump back away from a downward fist aimed towards her cranium. Naruko charged forward and jumped into the air flipping to gain momentum for the ax kick she was bringing down. The clone crossed her arms above her head and caught the foot aimed for her head before pushing the original off and flipping her backwards. The real Naruko was once again out onto the defensive as her clone took advantage of the original trapped in the air.

Naruko blocked a quick punch aimed at her face then jumped over a sweeping kick. Sh barely twisted in the air as her clone aimed another punch at her gut. Naruko landed on the ground and had to immediately jump away from another punch. The clone sent a flurry of kicks and punches at the original that were either dodged or blocked. The clone went to swing her leg around aiming for the originals head. Naruko took the advantage and caught her clones kick and tossed her away before charging forward. Naruko quickly performed an ax kick and brought it down hard on her clone. The impact made her clone bounce up off the deck giving Naruko the chance to punch her clone in the gut and send it away from her. The clone smacked into a wall and poofed away.

Naruko stood panting, she felt the training integrate into her muscles as the clones memories came back to her. She turned to leave only to be met with one of the sailors. They all smelled of sake and fish, but the sake smell on this guy was significantly larger.

"Umm, was I bothering you? I'm sorry if I was," she said.

The sailor shook his head. "Not at all little lady. How come you aren't training with your Sensei?" he asked.

"He's seasick," Naruko said with a shrug. "But my clones make good sparring partners."

The sailor nodded and continued to stare at Naruko. "You know the seas are pretty rough. You should be careful out in them," he said.

Naruko took a step back. The aura coming off of this man made Naruko feel uneasy. "Uh, thanks for the advice. I think I'm gonna go now," she said and made to move past the man but was stopped.

"Aww. So soon?" he asked. "Why not stay down here a little bit longer? Nobody's here to bother us." Her eyes widened when she heard this. Naruko swallowed, fear slowly growing in her stomach. "Nobody to hear you scream," he said with an evil grin before he lunged and grabbed Naruko.

Naruko immediately went to thrashing about in the mans grasp. "JIRAIYA!" she screamed.

The sailor just laughed. "I already told you nobody can hear us down here. And now we can have our fun," he said sadistically. He walked over to one of the walls that had a few sacks of grain up against it and tossed her onto them. He immediately began to try and strip her of her pants but was kicked in the nose in the process.

Naruko took the advantage and shot up and towards the door trying to make a break for it. "Jiraiya Sensei! Help!" Naruko screamed again. She was almost to the door before the sailor grabbed her by the hair and tossed her back onto the ground. She quickly got up and made a Kage Bunshin before dispelling it to send it's memories to her other two clones. 'Please hurry!' she thought to herself. Naruko then remembered the kunai she had on her and drew it. The tri-tipped kunai glinted dangerously in the light of one of the lanterns.

"Ooh, I'm so scared of a little girl holding a butter knife," he said in mock fear. He drew his own weapon. It was a saber about three times the length of Naruko's kunai. "You should stop before you get hurt little girl."

"And let you rape me like the scum you are?! Fuck you!" she yelled.

"My my, little girls shouldn't use such foul language," he said before rushing Naruko and knocking her down with his shoulder. She collided with a support beam, knocking the kunai away and putting her into a daze. The man then proceeded to undress her. He grinned down at her evilly and was about to rape her when he was suddenly thrown back by a tremendous force. "What the fuck was that?" he asked groggily.

"You son of a bitch," the newcomer said quietly and very dangerously. Killing intent flew like waves towards the man. "You are a pathetic piece of scum for trying something like that. Especially when it's towards my goddaughter. I will make sure you suffer terribly before I kill you."

Naruto looked up through foggy eyes and spotted Jiraiya. She tried to move but slowly fell back into unconsciousness. The sailor stood up and held his sword in a terrible kenjutsu stance. The captain and a couple of other sailors came down the stairs when they felt the intense killing pressure that was being released. The captain was about to say something then spotted the half undressed Naruko and the sailor defending himself against a severely pissed off Jiraiya.

Jiraiya disappeared from sight only to reappear directly in front of the man with his fist cocked back. Jiraiya slammed it down into the mans face hard and sent him sprawling to the floor. The force caused the sailor to bounce back up enough for Jiraiya to grab his throat and slam him into a support beam. The beam creaked from the sudden pressure. Jiraiya let the man slide down to the floor before he kicked the man upwards into the ceiling. As he began his descent back to the floor Jiraiya formed a Rasengan in his hand and slammed it into the sailors stomach. The blast rocketed the sailor to the far wall where a Jiraiya Kage Bunshin was waiting. The clone caught the man by the throat and slammed him into the ground. The real Jiraiya walked over to the downed sailor and glared down at him.

"You have no right to call yourself a man," he spat before quickly drawing a kunai and throwing it into the mans genitals, rendering them completely useless for the rest of his soon to be short life. The sailor barely hard time to scream before Jiraiya brought two more kunai from his kimono top and tossed them both into vital spots on the mans body. His eyes widened and he tried to scream but all that came out was a gurgling sound. He lifted his head slightly before it dropped back to the ground, completely lifeless.

Jiraiya quickly rushed over to Naruko and redressed her before her picked up gently, grabbing the kunai in the process. Jiraiya walked over to the stairs and looked at the captain. "I'm not sorry for his death. Nobody is to touch her at all," Jiraiya warned dangerously.

The captain shook his head. "Don't worry. He was merely a body to be used for labor. It my fault for not keeping a better watch on my crew. I can assure you there won't be anything else like this happening again while he head to Mizu no Kuni," the captain said.

Jiraiya simply nodded before walking upstairs. The captain turned to the crew me where with him. "Get him out of here and toss him over the side of the ship. Let the sea life eat his carcass," he ordered.

"Aye, Captain!" the crew said and made quick work of hauling the body to the top deck and tossing him over board.

Back with Naruko and Jiraiya, Naruko had just regained consciousness. She was sitting on Jiraiya's bed, curled up next to him shaking. Tears were streaming down her face. Jiraiya just held onto her to make sure she wasn't alone. "I'm sorry Naruko. I should've been down there with you," he said guiltily.

Naruko sniffed and wiped her eyes. "I d-don't blame y-you Sensei," she sobbed. "I sh-shouldn't have g-gone down alone. I sh-should've just stayed up here with you."

Jiraiya rubbed her back comfortingly. "It wasn't your fault sweetie. Now you should go to sleep. Get what happened off your mind," he said quietly.

Naruko simply nodded before closing her eyes and slowly falling asleep next to Jiraiya. The man sighed. She would probably be scarred for life because of that, but Jiraiya would make sure to stay by her side from now on no matter what. He wouldn't ever let harm come to the girl. Not while he was still breathing. Jiraiya leaned back against the wall near the head of his bed and quickly fell asleep.

* * *

Ang3l: Chapter 3 if going to take a little more time to upload. i will more than likely upload it with Chapter 6 of Vengeance of an Uzumaki and Hyuga. Anyway i hope you guys all enjoyed this chapter and look forward to Chapter 3.

Kurama: would you just stop your damn rambling already!

Ang3l: Shaddup you jackass!

Kurama: make me!

Ang3l: *places hand on lever* Don't tempt me.

Kurama: *sweating bullets* please don't.

Ang3l: *smirks* too easy. *turns to reader* See you guys later!


	3. Mist and a Redhead

**LEGEND: "…" speech**

'…' **thinking**

 **(…) probably authors notes**

 _ **italics will purely be flashbacks**_

 **\- Scene change**

Ang3l: And we are back with chapter 3. Here we get to meet Naruko's first companion. You'll see who it is. and as for the reviews this time around:

 **:** i do plan on changing the picture. i just need to find the right one

 **Hunter801:** thanks. i try to keep at least 8,000 or more words per chapter. i like long stories. I'm also trying to make Jiraiya a better godfather to Naruko. glad i'm able to do that.

 **marcoglas92:** she will, don't worry. she is strong willed, if not stronger than canon Naruto. especially considering she has somebody to guide her and soon friends to be with her through thick and thin.

 **Spikesagitta:** yeah. *sighs* i realize there are some pronoun errors and i will change them eventually. they are only there because this was originally supposed to be Naruto oriented. I changed it about halfway through the second chapter.

 **TheBeauty:** thanks! glad you like it!

 **ForsakenUchiha:** yeah i know. hehe. i'll get them changed eventually

 **animedevilluvyuri:** damn that's a mouthful of a name to type. Tayuya will be here soon. as for Fuu, i'm not sure honestly.

 **Sandmaster:** Thanks! I'm glad you like it. This is my first Naruko story and girl on gir story, so we'll see how it goes.

Ang3l: Thanks for the reviews guys! Always appreciated. Now over to Kurama with the disclaimer.

Kurama: ForsakenAng3l doesn't own Naruto or any of its characters. any OC's don't fall under that. Now on to the story. I want some action!

* * *

The rest of the trip to Mizu no Kuni was rather quiet for our duo. Naruko didn't leave the room they were in until the ship arrived at Mizu no Kuni. She hadn't said a word since the incident below decks and Jiraiya was getting worried. The moment they left the ship Jiraiya took Naruko in search of a ramen stand. He quickly found one and ordered for them.

Naruko silently thanked him before she slowly ate her food. Now Jiraiya was really worried. Naruko Uzumaki was not one to just slowly eat her ramen. "Hey cheer up, kiddo," he said softly and ruffled her hair. It had grown these last two years Jiraiya noticed. It was now just above her shoulders. "It's gonna be OK."

Naruko looked up at her Sensei. "Why are people so cruel?" she asked.

Jiraiya looked at his ramen in thought before shrugging and taking a bite. "Who knows," he said. "People, although intelligent, aren't the smartest beings that walk this earth. They see things they want and will go to any length to get it. Humans are selfish creatures."

"But why? What made them that way?" she asked as tears began to build up at the corners of her eyes.

"My guess is the pain of loss made humans the way they are," Jiraiya said thoughtfully. "When somebody feels that pain, they automatically want to cause the same pain to the person that caused them the pain originally. And when that happens the cycle of hatred takes over. People hate others, causing them to hate, and so on. That's why I made it my goal in life to bring peace to everybody in the world."

Naruko was wide eyed at her Sensei's goal in life. "How are you going to do that?" she asked.

Jiraiya shrugged. "I don't know, honestly. But if I can find a way I will. Even if I don't live to see it, I'll make sure to pass that ideal down to the next generation," he said in his sagely tone.

Naruko looked at her noodles before she wiped the tears away and nodded. "Alright I've decided," she said firmly.

Jiraiya raised his eyebrow. "Decided what?" he asked with a mouthful of food.

"I'm gonna help you achieve your dream. When I become Hokage I'm going to join the five great nations together under a single banner. This way there will be peace throughout the Elemental Nations," she said determined.

Jiraiya stared wide eyed at the girl. She had such a huge dream to accomplish, and for some reason Jiraiya knew that, come hell or high water, she would somehow make it come true. He smiled down at his student. "It seems the Will of Fire already burns brightly within you," he said softly.

She grinned up at him. It seemed that this little talk about her dreams brought the girl out of her funk. "So what sort of training are we going to be doing here, Ero Sennin?" she asked.

Jiraiya immediately sweat dropped at his nickname. The girl was never going to let that go. "Well I figured since Mizu no Kuni is water chakra oriented we could train your water affinity. We might not be able to get our hands of any good water Jutsu scrolls, but at least we could train your affinity for the element," he replied. "Once we leave here our next stop will be Taki no Kuni so you can finish with your Wind training."

Naruko nodded enthusiastically, she was ready for more training. "So are we going to go to Kirigakure?" she asked.

"Maybe. I doubt they would just let me roam through their village, even if I'm technically not affiliated with any village," he said. "We might be able to visit briefly."

"OK," she said and finished her ramen before jumping down off the stool she was sitting on. Jiraiya paid for the ramen and followed the girl out. The two of them walked out of the port town and into the land of Mizu no Kuni. As they traveled she continuously practiced using the only Fuuton Jutsu she knew. The girl kept blowing away random bushes and scattering wildlife. Occasionally the Jutsu would backfire and knock the girl to her back while nearly tripping Jiraiya.

"Fuuton: Daitoppa!" she called out and sent the blast forward. The wind rocketed towards a tree and suddenly curved upwards and collided with a rather large branch. The branch was busted apart and began to fall straight for Jiraiya's head. The man quickly knocked the tree away and turned to glare at Naruko.

"Alright gaki! I understand you want to master that Jutsu, but it's time to quit with it for a little bit. If you want to practice something while we walk, why not look at the scroll your father gave you and see if you can figure out the Rasengan," he said. "He should've sealed two different sets of balls within the scroll. One set is water balloons while the other are rubber balls."

She nodded and quickly unrolled the scroll Minato Namikaze left behind for her. She channeled chakra into one of the seals and a single water balloon popped out. "Hmm. To complete the first step of the Rasengan, you need to burst this water balloon with just your chakra by swirling it around. I don't understand Ero Sennin," she said.

Jiraiya sighed. "Let me see the balloon and I'll demonstrate ONE time for you. After that you're on your own for this Jutsu," he said.

Naruko tossed the balloon up to Jiraiya who caught it easily and held his hand out for Naruko to see. Jiraiya began to focus his chakra into his palm making the balloon start to shake. Soon the water inside of the balloon was swirling around in every random direction before the balloon burst apart. Naruko was wide eyed as she saw this. "And this is done using just my chakra?" she asked. Jiraiya nodded. "OK. From what I saw it seemed the chakra was moving around in random motions, but I doubt that was the case right?" She asked.

Jiraiya smirked. "Good eyes. It seemed random yes, but it was flowing randomly in a single direction. I want you to focus your chakra and then tell me which way it seems to rotate within your body," he said.

"What's that got to do with it?" she asked curiously.

"It's to see which way you need to spin the chakra in your hand. If you spin the chakra against the flow, it'll be that much harder to form the Jutsu. By going with the flow, it's easier to do," he explained.

Naruko nodded and closed her eyes and began to focus her chakra throughout her body. She felt the tug of the chakra then opened her eyes, they glowed crimson for a split second before going back to normal.

"Well, which way does your chakra flow?" he asked, taking note of the red eyes.

"Right. So I need to swirl the water in the balloon rapidly to the right?" she inquired.

"You got it. Now let's keep walking. I'd like to get to the nearest town as soon as possible," he said.

Naruko nodded and made nine clones to follow along with her. She handed each one a balloon and took one for herself before they all began to practice stage one to the Rasengan. She practiced this for the next four hours while they traveled. Once they arrived in the town, Naruko dispelled her clones after collecting the water balloons and walked with Jiraiya towards an inn.

She took all her clones memories in and tried to break the water balloon again. It looked like it was about to burst before going back to normal. "How long did it take Tou-San to get it right?" she asked Jiraiya after leaving the receptionist desk.

Jiraiya rubbed his chin. "If I remember correctly I think it took your father 3 years to create. However, he died before he could complete it," Jiraiya said.

"What if I added wind chakra to the Rasengan?" Naruko asked.

Jiraiya's eyebrows rose slightly. "If you could do that and master it, you would have accomplished what your father tried to do before his death," he stated. "What made you think of that?"

Naruko shrugged. "Well you didn't say that the Rasengan was an elemental Jutsu so I figured an element could be added to it to make it stronger," she said.

Jiraiya chuckled. "Smart thinking. But you should worry about that after you master the Rasengan first. Once you've got the first two steps down, it should be easy for you to create a Rasengan in your hand. Especially being a girl, you naturally have better chakra control than males," the man said as they reached their room.

"Really? So kunoichi are super awesome!" Naruko exclaimed with a grin.

Jiraiya chuckled. "Yes. Yes they are," he said.

Naruko's grin only grew wider. "Hell yeah!" she cheered as she sat down on her bed. She quickly pulled out a change of clothes and then her fox plushie which she had named Aska. She always slept with the fox since the day she won it. Jiraiya chuckled at the girl.

"Alright gaki. Its time for some lunch. Let's go and find something good to eat," the man said as he dropping his bag to the floor.

"Dango?" Naruko asked. She had found a liking for it a few months back. It was good, although not as good as ramen. Nothing was as good as ramen.

Jiraiya shrugged. "Sure," he said and walked outside with Naruko in tow. She looked around and took in the sights of the town. Mizu no Kuni was a bit... bland. And humid, very humid. Summer in Mizu no Kuni was a complete drag for everybody. No matter what you did, you just couldn't keep from sweating.

"Ero Sennin," Naruko said. "This weather sucks."

Jiraiya wiped his brow. "That it does. I forgot what summers were like here. If I had remembered that I would've went to Taki no Kuni first," he said and wiped more sweat from his face.

Naruko growled low. "So you're saying we have to suffer in this humidity because your memory sucks?" she grumbled.

"What? Are you worried about your hair poofing out?" Jiraiya joked.

Naruko narrowed her eyes. "A real kunoichi wouldn't care what happens to their hair. Primping and preening it would only take away from training," she stated. Jiraiya nodded. She was going to make a fine kunoichi when she graduated from the academy.

"So then what's the problem?" he asked.

"I HATE THE HUMIDITY!" she yelled, earning a few stares from passerby and civilians shopping.

Jiraiya laughed. "Oh deal with it gaki," he grinned.

Naruko growled and unsealed a water balloon and threw it with all her might at the back of Jiraiya's head. Jiraiya, being the skilled shinobi he was, quickly turned his head and caught the water balloon in his teeth and narrowed his eyes slightly. (A/N. Just like the anime.) Naruko stared wide eyed and few people clapped at the show.

"Nice try gaki, but I'm more skilled than that," he said through clenched teeth.

Naruko smirked. "Then why haven't you caught the second one?" she asked confidently.

Jiraiya raised his eyebrow. He grabbed the balloon from his mouth then lifted up his other hand. It was holding another water balloon. "You mean the one your Kage Bunshin threw at me?" he asked.

If it was possible, Naruko's jaw would've hit the ground. She gawked at the man. 'So fast!' she thought. "Stupid Ero Sennin," she mumbled under her breath before continuing to find a dango shop.

Jiraiya smirked. "Keep talking and I'll have you running with a few hundred pounds worth of weights on your body," he warned.

Naruko immediately shut her mouth. She always wore about a hundred extra pounds of weights to help with her training, but making that a couple hundred would surely break the girl. She shuddered at the thought, before adjusting the seal bracelets on her wrists. Jiraiya had given them to her on her last birthday to help with training. The set of four, two bracelets and two anklets, was immediately put on the moment she got them, and she hadn't taken them off since. She could up the weight at any time or reduce it. Currently her max was a hundred pounds without tiring her out to much. Once a hundred felt too light, she would add another fifty pounds to them.

They soon found a dango shop and went inside. Naruko ordered three sweet and three spicy orders with a tea while Jiraiya settled with the house special, which consisted of a mixture of the different types of dango. The waitress quickly came back with their food and after some flirting and then the waitress "accidentally" spilling Jiraiya's very hot tea in his lap. Naruko covered her mouth to keep from laughing.

"That's what you get Ero Sennin," Naruko snickered. "You look like you're in pain there Sensei."

"Shut up gaki. It burns," Jiraiya said through clenched teeth.

Naruko smirked and chuckled before reaching to grab her cup. Before she grabbed it, however, the cup cracked. Naruko stopped herself and stared at the cup. It was a bad omen when the cup of tea you had cracked. Jiraiya looked at Naruko and then the cup. "I wouldn't worry too much about it," he said. "Unless you believe all that superstitious crap."

Naruko shook her head before downing the plate of dango, completely ignoring the tea. Once they finished lunch and paid, the two of them left to go find a suitable training area for a little while. Naruko, while Jiraiya searched, went back to the inn and continued with stage one of the Rasengan. She had 15 clones in the room all holding a water balloon. "Let's get this down so we can move on to the next stage," Naruko ordered.

"Right, Hime!" The clones all chorused together and began training again.

Jiraiya arrived a couple hours later. "Argh! What the hell!" Naruko yelled from the other side of the door before something crashed against the other side of the door. Jiraiya slid the door open just enough for him to poke his head through.

"What in the world are you doing?" he asked.

"I've almost got stage one complete. I just can't seem to get it right!" Naruko groaned. "I'm able to burst the balloon using two hands, but I just can't get it down to one hand."

Jiraiya stepped through the door and shut it behind him. "Did you say you can do it with two hands?" He asked.

Naruko nodded. "Watch," she grabbed the balloon in one hand and used her other hand to help swirl the water. The balloon burst in a matter of seconds. "I can do that, but now matter how hard I try, using one hand just doesn't cut it. I wonder if I could talk to Kyuubi about slowing his chakra flow down..." Naruko wondered aloud.

Jiraiya was about to say something but Naruko had already adopted a meditative sitting position.

Naruko opened her eyes and she was standing in the forest. "Hey Kyuubi!" she yelled.

The sound of growling and a few trees being snapped caused Naruko to quickly turn around. "What do you want brat?" the giant fox asked. It was standing at its full height, towering over the girl before it.

"I was wondering if you were able to stop your chakra flow into my system. I'm trying to learn the Rasengan and I think the amount of chakra I've got, plus add yours into the mix, is making it harder for me to complete the first stage of the training," she explained. "Don't stop it completely, but just make it small enough that it's not disrupting the flow of my chakra."

"What's in it for me? I enjoy watching you struggle," the fox growled. Naruko looked down in thought. "Can you see the outside world from in here?" she asked.

The Kyuubi lowered its head so that it was level with the girl. "No I can't. Why does that matter?" it asked.

"Well I was thinking maybe if I was able to let you see that, then you'd help. I'm sure you'd like to see the real world again. Right?" she inquired.

The fox was silent for a moment. "Why are you trying to help me?" it asked.

Naruko shrugged. "Why not?" she replied with her own question. "I'm sure at one time in your life you weren't filled with so much hate. I thought that if somebody showed you kindness it might break that shell of hatred."

The fox narrowed it's eyes. "You're a strange human," it said. "I guess I can help with that."

Naruko smiled up at the fox kindly. "OK. Now how do I let you see what I see?" she asked.

"Tear the corners of the seal off. It will give me access to your senses also giving you a power boost. When you do that I'll decrease my chakra flow until you get the hang of your Jutsu," the fox explained.

Naruko nodded and focused on the seal. The collar around the Kyuubi's neck glowed before becoming lines of kanji that floated towards Naruko. The kanji all morphed together into a large seal tag. She ripped all four corners off and immediately felt a rush of energy into her body. And just as quick as it came, the energy disappeared. The seal then went back to being a collar around the Kyuubi's neck.

"Ah. Much better. That damn thing isn't as tight anymore," it said.

"You're welcome," Naruko said with a smile. The fox merely nodded. "We can still be friends you know?"

"What do I have to gain by being friends with you?" It asked.

"Well I love to pull pranks, and foxes are mischievous. You could help me prank Konoha when we get back," she said with a grin.

The fox huffed. "I might take you up on that offer. Maybe. Now leave," it growled lightly.

"I'll see you later Kyuubi," Naruko said with a wave before she disappeared from the seal.

Kyuubi stared at the place where the girl had been just seconds before. "She reminds me a lot of you," it said to nobody in particular before laying down and closing its eyes.

Naruko opened her eyes and saw Jiraiya looking at her worried. "Umm Ero Sennin? Something wrong?" she asked.

"What did you do to the seal?" he asked in a serious tone.

"I allowed the Kyuubi to see and hear what I see and hear. In exchange for it nearly stopping the chakra flowing into my system," she said. "You said the bigger the chakra reserves, the harder the control right? Well I figured if I could get the Kyuubi to slow down it's chakra flow then I'd have an easier time getting stage one complete."

Jiraiya was astonished. Never in a million years would Jiraiya have ever thought that was possible. Especially with the most powerful Bijuu out there. "You're really something, you know that?" he asked.

Naruko grinned. "Alright! This time I'm going to get it one handed," she declared and grabbed the water balloon. She began to focus her chakra to swirl the water around. 'Faster! Faster!' she thought to herself. 'Almost there!' The balloon looked like it was about to burst. And sure enough in the next few seconds it did. Water went all over the floor and Naruko, but that didn't bother her. She grinned over at Jiraiya. "I got it!" she yelled and jumped up into the air. "I finally got it!"

Jiraiya smirked. "Well done Naruko. Now it's time to put the Rasengan training on hold. It's time for you to train your taijutsu and your physical body," he said. "I've found us a decent looking place to train for a while until we move on."

"How long are we going to stay in this town?" Naruko asked.

"I figure a couple of weeks, no longer than a month. If I can get access into Kirigakure soon we'll leave earlier," he replied.

Naruko nodded. "What kind of training are we going to do now Ero Sennin?" she asked."We are going to first work on your physical training for a week," he replied. "So get ready for a week of pure hell. Oh and you need to up your weights to 250 pounds total. Starting now."

Naruko nearly fell over at the thought of that. She was just getting comfortable with 100 and now she was supposed to add another 150 pounds. She swallowed and did as she was told, regrettably. She instantly felt the strain on her muscles as her knees nearly buckled out from under her.

"This sucks," she groaned as she stood up straight, slowly of course.

Jiraiya smirked. "Alright follow me gaki. No walking!" the man ordered as he jogged outside of the inn. Naruko struggled to keep up, having to nearly run to keep up with Jiraiya's jog. Her muscles screamed as she moved. Add the humidity to the mix and you've got a perfectly irritating beginning to the training. "Faster Naruko!" Jiraiya yelled from up ahead.

Naruko looked up and her eyes widened. Jiraiya was a good 50 yards ahead of her and was slowly moving further away. Naruko gritted her teeth and pushed forward. It took them a couple of hours to reach the area Jiraiya planned to train in, and by the time Naruko reached it she felt like death.

Jiraiya hadn't even broken a sweat while Naruko's shirt was soaked and her hair was stuck all over her face. "You're insane Ero Sennin," she panted.

"You ain't seen nothing yet," he said with an evil grin. "Now give me twenty laps around this clearing. GO!"

Naruko immediately began her jog around the clearing while Jiraiya went to find a nice shady tree to sit under and relax. Naruko glared at her Sensei and thought about tossing the first rock she could find at his head. She then realized that there was no way she would be able to pick said rock up and throw it hard enough to do any damage.

Once the twenty laps were done Naruko collapsed on the ground in front of Jiraiya. "That... Was... Awful!" she panted.

"That's only the warm up gaki. Now thirty sits up, thirty push ups, then find a tree branch you can reach and do ten pull ups. After that I want you to run up and down a tree for ten minutes then go to the water over there and try to use as much chakra as you can. Although with the amount you have, I highly doubt you'll be able to," Jiraiya ordered. "Oh. And make about fifty clones to help you with this." Naruko groaned and did as she was told and began the torture... Training... Hell. Take your pick.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to our blonde heroine, a young girl about the same age as Naruko was watching the blonde train from behind a tree. The girl had lightly tanned skin, dark brown eyes, and had long almost pink hair. She was wearing dark pants and normal sandals on her feet. Her top consisted of a simple shirt with a sash tied around her waist. She watched Naruko with complete curiosity, bordering on fascination.

Jiraiya knew she was there but ignored it, knowing she wasn't a threat. However, there was this nagging feeling that he simply couldn't shake. It was foreign to him, yet familiar all the same. Jiraiya eventually ignored it entirely and focus back on Naruko's training. "You can move faster than that!" he ordered.

It was dark and the moon had risen by the time Naruko finished her last exercise. She tried to move along with Jiraiya back to the inn, but her exhaustion got the better of her. Naruko took one step and fell forward, nearly smacking her face on the ground. Jiraiya caught her and picked the girl up and took her back to the inn.

This routine went on for a couple of weeks. Jiraiya would wake Naruko up early, have her run to the training area, then do the exercises he said. Every two days and the man would increase the numbers; while every four days the weight Naruko wore would be increased by fifty pounds. She went from wearing 250 pounds up to 400 and could easily run back and forth to the inn without falling over from exhaustion.

At the end of the second week Jiraiya had Naruko run to the training ground to do her exercises while he stayed in town for a little while. He was supposed to receive word today about going into Kiri for a few days to find somebody to train Naruko's water affinity. He sent a Kage Bunshin to follow silently behind Naruko as she trained. The girl no longer complained about the training, but instead powered through it every day without hesitation. Jiraiya's clone smirked as he watched her train. She had gotten into the habit of the intense training, which was exactly what Jiraiya wanted. He wasn't going to train a weak powered kunoichi, hell no. This girl would be his best student.

Jiraiya also had another reason as to why he stayed back in town and sent only a Kage Bunshin. The little redhead that always seemed to watch Naruko train had showed up every single day the last couple weeks. Jiraiya was curious as to what she was going to do so he hid up on a tree branch.

Naruko had just finished her push ups and was about to go over to a tree when she felt a presence behind her. She quickly whipped around and looked around.

"Who's there?" she called out. "Ero Sennin?"

No answer. She looked at all the trees surrounding her before shrugging and going back to the tree. She was about to step up onto the tree when she heard a twig snap. She immediately drew her kunai and turned. Her eyes scanned the entire area for a moment and was about to pass the sound off as wildlife until she caught a flash of red in her vision.

Naruko immediately rushed over to where the red was and waited behind the tree. She calmed her breathing before slowly turning and jumping around the tree. To say Naruko was surprised, was a bit of an understatement. When she saw the girl standing there and their eyes locked they both screamed loudly. Naruko jumped back and tripped over a root, falling on her ass. The other girl, however, jumped straight back into the tree she was hiding behind and smacked the back of her head against it. Her hands shot up to the sore spot.

"Fuck! What the hell is wrong with you?!" the girl shouted.

"What's wrong with me?" Naruko yelled back, getting to her feet. "What the hell is wrong with you?! Why were you hiding back here?"

"That's none of your fucking business blondie!" the redhead yelled back.

Naruko and the girl glared daggers at each other for a moment, you'd almost think you saw sparks between them. "Well if you aren't here for anything, I'm going back to my training then," Naruko finally spoke and turned away from the girl. "You're welcome to join me if you'd like."

The girl opened her mouth to speak but no words came out when the blonde walked passed her. "Hey I wasn't done!" she shouted.

Naruko looked over her shoulder. "Well if you're going to yell, you might as well do it over here in the clearing," Naruko called out to her. "It's less crowded than in the trees."

The girl watched Naruko walk away and was completely baffled at the blonde girl. Most people would've gotten angry at her just for being around them. But this girl seemed different. It was almost as though they were the same. The red head sighed and decided to walk out into the clearing to watch Naruko, who had proceeded to start running up and down a tree."I'm Naruko by the way," the blonde said suddenly right beside the redhead. The other girl jumped away quickly.

"How the hell did you get over here so fast?! Weren't you just... Over... There?" she asked slowly as she then realized that the girl, or should I say girls, that were running on the trees were all Kage Bunshin.

"Kage Bunshin," Naruko explained. "They help with my training."

The redhead looked over at the blonde and studied her. Most people would be tensed and ready to attack or flee when around her, but this blonde was completely relaxed. Like she didn't have a care in the world at the moment. "Why aren't you running from me?" she asked.

Naruko looked over at her puzzled. "What do you mean Red?" she asked.

The girl glared at the nickname. "It's Tayuya. Not red," she growled. "And I mean, everybody I come into contact with seems to hate me for some reason or another. So why don't you?"

"Tayuya huh? I like it," Naruko smiled at the girl. "And I don't really know. You don't seem that bad to me." Naruko smiled sadly at the ground. "Or maybe it's cause we're the same."

Tayuya looked confused. "What the fuck do you mean by that?" she asked almost angrily. "What would you know?"

"I've been hated almost all my life. Ever since the day I was born, the people of my village hated me and wouldn't explain why. I didn't have anybody at all," she said softly. "Until Ero Sennin rescued me from being killed by a group of villagers hell bent on "killing the demon of Konoha."

Tayuya was wide eyed. This random girl had lived a life almost exactly like hers. Alone, nobody to care for her. Nobody to show her love. Only hate. "Wait what do you mean demon? How are you a fucking demon?" Tayuya asked.

"Ever heard of the Kyuubi no Yoko?" Naruko asked.

Tayuya nodded. "A little bit. I heard that it attacked Konohagakure almost eight years ago. Why?" she asked.

"Well it's sealed inside of me, making me it's jinchuriki," Naruko said almost casually. Normally Naruko wouldn't tell anybody this kind of delicate information. But Tayuya seemed to be one person who could truly understand her.

"Fuck," was all Tayuya said. "That's fucking crazy. How do you not freak out about something like that?"

Naruko shrugged. "Fuzzball may look mean, but I'm sure on the inside he's caring. Especially to people that he gives respect for," she said.

Tayuya watched Naruko closely. "So what are you a shinobi or something?" she asked.

Naruko nodded. "In training. I'm on a 7 year long training trip with Ero Sennin to become a great shinobi. When we go back to Konoha, I'll be one of the top graduates from the academy. At least that's what Ero Sennin says," she explained. "What about you? I can sense you've got quite a bit of chakra."

Tayuya shook her head. "No. I would like to be one day though," she said quietly.

Naruko grinned. "Then why not train with me! I'm sure if we asked Ero Sennin he wouldn't mind bringing you along for our training. You don't have a village do you?" Naruto asked curiously.

Tayuya shook her head. "No. Not like it fucking matters anyway," she said bitterly.

Naruko's grin only widened. "Then it's perfect! Since you don't have a village, you can become a shinobi with me back in Konoha!" she exclaimed excitedly.

Tayuya looked up with almost hope in her eyes. "You're not trying to pull some sort of fucking trick are you?" she asked cautiously.

Naruko shook her head vigorously. "No way! I think it's a great idea! And this way we've each got somebody who isn't an old perv to talk to," Naruko grinned.

"Who's an old perv?" Jiraiya's clone suddenly said from the tree right above the girls. They both screamed and jump back, Naruko in front of Tayuya with her kunai drawn. She easily deflected both shuriken thrown at her and tossed her own back in retaliation.

Jiraiya caught them both through the holes in the center of the stars and had them spinning on his fingers. "Good reflexes gaki, still a little slow on your throwing though," he coached. "And I see your little watcher finally showed herself."

"Huh?" Naruko asked.

"What the fuck do you mean old man?" Tayuya growled.

"I mean I noticed you a couple weeks ago when Naruko first started training," he said. "Also I got word from Kiri. We're able to go in for a couple days but that's it. And we'll be leaving Mizu no Kuni after we leave Kirigakure."

"How come so quick?" Naruko asked.

"Something about possible civil war. I really don't want to be caught in the crossfire," the man explained. "And before you even ask, it's up to her if she wants to come or not." Jiraiya looked over at Tayuya.

Naruko turned and grinned at her. "Well? You want to come with us?" she asked.

Tayuya was silent for a moment. "I think it'll be good for the both of you," Jiraiya said. "That's my personal opinion."

Tayuya looked at Jiraiya then to Naruko. She swallowed and nodded lightly. "Sure why not. At least I'll be able to get out of this hell hole," she said.

If Naruko's grin could've got any wider it would've. She immediately hugged Tayuya tightly. "Yay! Somebody besides Ero Sennin to talk to!" she exclaimed.

"Get the fuck off blondie! You're too close!" Tayuya shouted and tried to pry Naruko off. However, due to Naruko's intense training the last two weeks her strength went through the roof.

Naruko let go and grinned, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. "Sorry. It's just I've never really had any friends before," she said. "Well one but I only met her briefly before we left Konoha." Naruko smiled as she remembered her first friend and subconsciously fingered her necklace under her shirt.

"Well we can be friends but none of that hugging shit," Tayuya said sternly.

Naruko grinned. "No promises, Tayuya-chan," Naruko said with a wink.

Tayuya quickly sent her fist into the top of Naruko's head. "Do NOT call me Tayuya-chan!" she growled.

Naruko nursed her injured head and grinned at Tayuya. "Whatever," she smirked.

Jiraiya smiled. "Alright, we'll come back to town so you can pack your things up. Do you have anything Tayuya?" he asked.

Tayuya shook her head. "Just what I'm wearing," she said quietly.

"That's OK! You can borrow some of my clothes when we get back," Naruko offered.

Tayuya was shocked, even though she refused to show it. Naruko was truly a different person than what Tayuya was used to. It made her feel... Warm on the inside. Tayuya hated that. She wasn't a mushy person. At all.

"Well, I'll see you two back at the inn," Jiraiya said then disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"Damn Ero Sennin," Naruko grumbled. Naruko then remembered her Kage Bunshin still training. "Alright ladies! Time to go!" she ordered loudly to them.

"Right, Hime!" they all chorused and began dispelling one at a time.

"Hime?" Tayuya asked.

Naruko just shrugged and rubbed her temples, worrying the headache. "That's just what they call me," she said. "Don't know why. Anyway let's go!"

Tayuya just nodded and followed Naruko back into town. She made sure to keep her head down and away from the eyes of any passerby. Naruko looked over at the redhead knowing exactly what she was feeling.

Naruko nudged her shoulder lightly. "Hey cheer up. Things are going to get better now! Promise," she reassured.

Tayuya simply nodded at her as they walked into the inn and up to Naruko's room. The two girls walked inside and found Jiraiya sitting at the table talking a Kirigakure shinobi. The man wore the standard Kiri shinobi outfit, which consisted of a pinstriped material worn as bracers on his arms and greaves that merged into his sandals. Underneath that he wore a plain black shirt and gray pants. A Kiri Jonin flak jacket was worn over his top, signifying his rank. His headband was on the side of his head and slightly tilted. He also wore bandages over most of his face that hung loosely around the bottom of his neck. On his back was a giant sword that was nearly as tall as he was.

"Naruko, Tayuya. Meet our guide for the few days we'll be staying in Kiri. Zabuza Momochi," Jiraiya introduced the man.

He looked the two girls over then back to Jiraiya. "Alright we're leaving in five minutes," Zabuza said. His voice was deep and throaty.

Jiraiya nodded. "Hurry up you two," he said.

Naruko and Tayuya nodded and rushed over to Naruko's bed. She grabbed a couple changes of clothes and handed one to Tayuya. "You can wear these," she said with a smile.

Tayuya nodded. "Thanks," she mumbled and went to the bathroom to change. Tayuya came back out a couple minutes later wearing a black shirt with a small fox curled up in the top center of the back and a pair of black shorts.

"Looks good," Naruko commented and went into the bathroom to change herself. Her quick moving caused her to miss Tayuya's small blush. When Naruko came back out, she had put on some dark blue shorts and a black shirt with two orange stripes going down the left side parallel to each other. She grabbed the rest of her clothes and put her bag on her back. "We're ready Ero Sennin," Naruko said enthusiastically. She made sure to stay away from Zabuza, even if she did want to check out his sword more.

Zabuza nearly questioned the nickname, but decided to leave well enough alone. "Alright, it'll take us the rest of the day to get there since you two can't move at shinobi speeds yet. Let's go," he said and walked out the door.

Naruko and Tayuya followed Jiraiya out the door and out into the open air. Naruko and Tayuya talked the entire time they were walking. Or rather Naruko talked, while Tayuya said very little. She was quite the reserved little girl. It would take some time for her to open up to anybody.

The trip to Kirigakure was rather uneventful. Nobody tried to rob them, and any moron who thought they had a snowballs chance in hell of it was quickly sent scurrying away from a wave of killer intent sent from Zabuza. The first time that happened, Naruko and Tayuya nearly fainted from the pressure, but were quickly brought out of their stupors courtesy of Jiraiya tapping their shoulders. After that Jiraiya kindly asked the swordsman to not project killing intent completely outward like that anymore.

As they drew closer to Kiri, Jiraiya drew some rope out. He had Naruko and Tayuya tie themselves together then tied the other end to himself so they didn't get lost in the much thicker mist. The girls were relieved when they finally saw Kirigakure through the mist, Naruko especially. The humidity was really making the girl angry.

"Finally," the blonde grumbled. She looked up and saw the moon staring to rise. "So where are we going to stay at?"

"I'll show you guys to your sleeping accommodations. Tomorrow morning there will be somebody to escort you around the village. You're not allowed in the Mizukage's building unless called upon or it's an emergency. You can have access to some of our scrolls, but don't expect to see our entire selection of shinobi scrolls," Zabuza said. "Oh, and no funny business while you're staying here. At all."

Jiraiya nodded then turned to Naruko. "No pranks gaki," he warned.

Naruko gave a mock hurt look. "I would never do something like that while in a foreign village Ero Sennin. Just so long as you stay out of the hot springs," she countered.

Jiraiya nearly tripped over his feet when she said that. He cleared his throat. "You want me to double your training gaki?" he asked.

Naruko swallowed and shook her head quickly. "No thanks! Your training is already hell enough," she said quickly.

Tayuya looked over at Naruko. "What's the deal with the hot springs?" she asked curiously.

"Ero Sennin is a pervert and likes to peep on women in the hot springs," Naruko said almost casually.

"Hey! I am NOT a pervert, gaki," Jiraiya said sternly. He turned around and struck a ridiculous pose with his feet far apart and one arm in front of him with his palm out towards the girls while the other was up in the air. Almost like a mock Juken stance. "I'm a SUPER pervert!" he declared proudly.

Naruko sweat dropped, Zabuza looked amazed that the man would openly admit to that, and Tayuya looked like she wanted to rip the mans balls off.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Tayuya yelled. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Jiraiya shrugged. "Do you want my personal opinion or my doctors?" he asked sarcastically.

Tayuya glared at the man. "Just stay the fuck away from me, creep," she warned.

Jiraiya rolled his eyes. "Your too young for me gaki," he stated.

"Enough already. You can go declare your perverseness later," Zabuza said.

"Hey," Naruko called out to get Zabuza's attention. He turned his head to acknowledge her. "Is it hard to wield that sword?" she asked.

Zabuza looked over his shoulder at the girl admiring his weapon. "For you maybe, but I've been using this sword since before you were probably even a thought in your parents minds," he said.

"Does it have a name?" Naruko asked.

"Why the fuck would a sword have a name?" Tayuya asked.

"Lots of swords have names. Usually they are named for the actions the wielder did while using the blade," Naruko explained.

Zabuza chuckled. "Smart kid. Yes it has a name. This is Kubokiribocho, The Executioners Sword," he told her.

Naruko's eyes widened. "Then you must be one of the Seven Ninja Swordsman!" Naruko exclaimed. She warily stepped up to Zabuza, but keeping close to Jiraiya.

He nodded. "That I am. You're pretty knowledgeable on things kid," the man said.

"It's part of my lessons from Ero Sennin. Did you know that the seven swords aren't actually from Kirigakure?" She asked, gaining a small bit more confidence around him.

Zabuza would've raised his eyebrow if he had any. "Oh really? Then where are the swords from?" he challenged.

"Uzushiogakure. My clan forged them long ago. Then they were stolen before the destruction of Uzushio during the Second Shinobi War. Along with the scrolls of how they were forged and how to fix them," she explained. "Although the materials used to make them originally were lost, there are still a couple than can be acquired. But not enough to recreate any of the swords."

To say Zabuza was impressed would be an understatement. His eyes widened slightly, but he kept his composure. "Your clan? You're an Uzumaki?" he asked.

Naruko nodded up at the man. "The last that I know of," she said sadly.

Zabuza almost felt pity for the girl, but didn't show it. "You're correct about the swords getting stolen. As for the scrolls, however, they were never recovered. I'm not entirely sure myself, but I think they were either destroyed or sealed deep within Uzushio. Deep enough where nobody could ever get to them," he said.

Naruko looked at the sword for a moment. "I'd love to have a weapon like that one day," she said.

Zabuza chuckled. "Well if your around when I die you can have your family's sword back to do with what you wish," he said. Naruko smiled slightly at Zabuza.

"So are you going to be our escort for the next few days?" she asked.

"No. There will be another Kiri shinobi escorting you three," he replied.

"Dang. I was hoping to ask you more about kenjutsu," she said. Even if she didn't trust the man, it still wouldn't hurt to learn something about the art.

"Why would you want to ask me about kenjutsu?" Zabuza asked curiously.

"You're a Ninja Swordsman of Kirigakure. The seven of you are said to be the most powerful sword wielders in the entire elemental nations. They way I see it is to ask the best for advice," she said.

Jiraiya smiled proudly at his goddaughter. She was still his student through and through, but the want to learn different styles of fighting that he couldn't teach was a good thing to have. Even if he was a little bit jealous, he was very proud of the girl.

Zabuza smirked under the bandages around his face. "Tell you what. I'll give you one of the kenjutsu scrolls I learned from. That way you still learn from the best," he said and pulled a scroll from his jacket. He handed it to Naruko. "Good luck with that," he said.

Naruko was wide eyed as she slowly took the scroll and unrolled it slightly to see what it contained. With her attention now shifted away from anything other than the scroll, she nearly ran into Jiraiya. "Read that later, gaki," he said after lightly hitting her on the head.

"Here's where you three will be staying," Zabuza said as they came up to an inn. "Oh and before I forget, here is a pass that will allow you into our library and give you access to some basic scrolls." He handed Jiraiya a small scroll.

Jiraiya placed it inside his kimono top. "Thank you Zabuza-san," he said with a polite bow.

"Thanks for the scroll Zabuza-san," Naruko said with a bow.

Zabuza chuckled lightly. "Stay alive kid. Perhaps we'll meet one day again in the future," he said and ruffled her hair, making the girl flinch slightly, before he walked off into the village.

Jiraiya looked at Naruko with a little worry. "You alright kiddo?" he asked.

She nodded. "I'm fine," she replied. "I guess not all people are cruel. I still don't trust him though."

Jiraiya chuckled. "That's a healthy feeling to have about any shinobi you don't know," he said. "Still though, I'm surprised you got him to give you that scroll. How do you make people like you so much?"

Naruko shrugged. "I don't know. I just do," she shrugged. "It's a good thing I'm like that or I wouldn't have gotten this," she lifted the scroll up. "Or met Tayuya-chan!" she draped her arm across Tayuya's shoulders with a grin.

"Arm off blondie. You're too fucking close," she growled and took Naruko's arm off her. "I told you I don't like all that mushy bullshit."

Naruko grinned at her before the three of them got a room and went up stairs to their room. "We've only got two beds," Jiraiya said. "You two can take them while I take the couch."

Naruko shook her head. "If you want a bed Ero Sennin, you can have mine. I don't mind sleeping on the couch," she said.

Jiraiya smiled and shook his head. "You've got the same kindness your mother would show to people. But I'm fine with the couch just keep the bed," he said and dropped his bag by the couch. "Well get some rest. Tomorrow we'll go get Tayuya some more clothes to wear then go over to the library. Tayuya?" Jiraiya said getting the redheads attention.

"What?" she asked.

"I can tell you've got a decent amount of chakra in your system. Do you want to train with Naruko under my guidance?" He asked.

Tayuya looked over at the man curiously. "What's in it for me?" She asked skeptically.

"You can learn to defend yourself, become a kunoichi, make more friends," he said. "It's up to you if you want to train with one of the Legendary Sannin or not." Jiraiya left it at that as he laid down in the couch.

Tayuya looked over at him then at Naruko. The blonde grinned and nodded. "You should train with me!" she exclaimed. "Then you can be a super cool kunoichi like me!"

Tayuya was silent for a moment. She turned back to Jiraiya. "I'm in," she said. "But no bullshit."

Jiraiya chuckled. "Don't worry. Like I said earlier, you're too young," he said and laid down on the couch and fell asleep.

"Are you excited for tomorrow?" Naruko asked.

Tayuya shrugged. "I don't know. I've never really thought about becoming a kunoichi. But it's better than the alternative I guess..." she said quietly as she sat down on the bed.

Naruko went and sat down beside her. "What's the alternative?" the blonde asked.

"Just a bunch of fucking bullshit. Nobody ever treated me like a fucking human being. I was always the "cursed child" or "demon bitch," Tayuya mumbled and pulled her legs up to her chest. "Nobody ever cared for me. Not even my parents..."

"Did you know them?" Naruko asked suddenly. "Your parents I mean."

Tayuya whipped her head around. "Of course I knew them! What the fuck kinda question is that?" she growled.

Naruko looked down and smiled sadly, dropping her mask of happiness. Her emotions coming to the surface on this rare occasion. She rarely even let Jiraiya see this side of her, even if she knew that he knew her façade was all an act. "My parents died on the day I was born so I never knew them. I only know about them because of Ero Sennin," she said quietly.

Tayuya was shocked, her eyes wide as dinner plates and her mouth hung open slightly. She turned away from Naruko and looked down. "I'm sorry. Suddenly my problems seem completely inferior," the redhead said.

Naruko nudged Tayuya's shoulder. "They aren't inferior. And besides I've come to terms with the hand fate dealt me. I decided a long time ago that I wouldn't cry about things like that anymore and become stronger," Naruko said with a genuine smile, not her usual grin or the fake smile she gave to everybody.

Tayuya blushed lightly. She was about to speak again but Naruko stopped her by speaking first. "Plus I've also been in the same situation you were in. Being called a demon and bitch. The villagers all treated me like trash, I was thrown out of the orphanage at four and had to live on the streets for two months before Jiji found me. Even after he got me a place to stay and gave me a monthly living allowance, it was still never enough. I was always overcharged for food except for things that were expired or that nobody would ever eat," she said.

"Wow. Suddenly my shitty life doesn't seem so bad," Tayuya said. "I'm sorry Naruko."

Naruko shrugged and looked out the window. The moon was barely visible through the mist. "It's fine. I got over it these last two years," she said.

"How?" Tayuya asked. "How could you get over something that fucking horrible?"

"If I didn't and decided to take revenge on the villagers who did me wrong, then I would just be proving them right. They would win," she said simply. "I want to prove to them that I'm not the demon they think I am. And I'll do that by becoming the Hokage."

"That's a pretty fucked up way of thinking. But to each her own, I guess," Tayuya said.

"Do you have a dream for the future?" Naruko asked.

Tayuya shook her head. "Just surviving to the next day. I've never really had any dreams ever since..." she trailed off and looked down.

"Since what?" Naruko urged.

"Since I was forced to leave my home," she said quietly.

"Why'd you have to leave?"

"It's a long fucking story..." Tayuya mumbled. "I'd rather not talk about it."

Naruko nodded. "OK. Just know that I'm here if you ever need to talk," she said and got up to go to her bed.

Tayuya grabbed her hand quickly stopping her. Naruko turned around and looked at the redhead. Tayuya had turned her head. "Can I sleep with you?" she asked quietly. "I've just never liked fucking sleeping alone. And I'm…"

"Afraid of the dark?" Naruko guessed. Tayuya nodded silently. "Sure!" the blonde said with a smile.

Tayuya looked up and left a small smile grace her lips, but she quickly let it disappear. "Thanks blondie," she mumbled and got into bed after Naruko laid down. She scooted next to Naruko and shivered slightly.

"Anytime Red," Naruko winked and pulled the covers up to their necks. "It's kinda like having a sleepover!" Naruko exclaimed.

"I guess. I've never had one," Tayuya said.

"Me either," Naruko said. She grabbed Tayuya's hands in hers. "It's cold at night."

"Yeah, no shit," Tayuya agreed and scooted closer to the blonde. "Hey Naruko?"

"Yeah Tayuya?" Naruko asked.

"Thanks for bringing me with you two," she said quietly.

"You're welcome," Naruko yawned. "I'm tired."

Tayuya nodded. "Me too," she said sleepily, her eyelids drooping. "Goodnight Blondie."

"Goodnight Red," Naruko said. She fell asleep shortly after and nuzzled closer to Tayuya.

The redhead was about to push her away but decided she was too tired to try and fell asleep herself. The two girls curled up closer to each other then finally settled into a comfortable position.

Jiraiya, who had been awake the entire time, smiled at the two girls. He knew Naruko was happy to be training out here with him, but having another girl her age would definitely be good for her. He chuckled to himself before letting sleep finally overtake him.

Jiraiya woke first the next morning. He stretched his back and received a few wonderful cracks. He yawned and went into the bathroom and did his morning routine. As he walked out of the bathroom, he noticed the girls. They had shifted in their sleep and Naruko was laying her head on Tayuya's chest while Tayuya had her arms wrapped around the blonde.

He smirked. If only he had a camera, this would make perfect blackmail material later on. He shook his head and decided to let them sleep as he grabbed breakfast. It consisted of a couple bagels and cream cheese.

At that point Tayuya woke up. She opened her eyes slowly and grumbled a few choice curses under her breath. "Fuck mornings," she groaned. She stretched and went to move off the bed, but found that was currently impossible. Her first thought was that she was tied down, but quickly shoved that thought away. Well until she realized that she actually was tied down, only it was with a pair of arms. She looked down and saw a head of blonde hair in her face.

Tayuya then remembered why Naruko was this close to her. "Hey blondie," she said and shook Naruko lightly.

Naruko groaned sleepily and turned her head, tightening her grip on Tayuya. "Five more minutes..." the blonde mumbled, still asleep.

"Blondie! Get the fuck off!" Tayuya growled and tried to push Naruko off her. She, however, completely underestimated Naruko's strength. The blonde held tight to Tayuya. "Hey! Super Perv, come help me with this!"

Jiraiya laughed. "I'm actually finding it quite entertaining," he grinned.

"I will cut your nuts off in your sleep! Fucking help me!" she yelled. Naruko hugged her tighter. "The training you put her through is cutting off my ability to fucking breath!"

Jiraiya laughed and stood up. "You're going to smack yourself in the forehead when you see how easy this is," he told the redhead. The man leaned down to Naruko's ear. "Naruko. The ramen shops are closing forever," he whispered loud enough for Tayuya to hear.

"Like that'll fucking wor-" she was cut off as Naruko shot up out of bed completely awake.

"What?! They can't just close all the ramen shops! That's the food of Kami! NOOO!" She yelled.

"Holy shit. That actually worked," Tayuya said stunned. Her mouth hung open.

Jiraiya chuckled. "She falls for it every time," he laughed. His face was then met with his new best friend, one of Naruko's bracelet weights. It was still at 400 pounds. Jiraiya fell over hard and gripped his nose.

"Ero Sennin! You ass! Don't joke around like that with me!" Naruko yelled. "I don't know what I would do if every ramen stand across the elemental nations just suddenly closed up. That's too horrible to even think about!" She shivered at the thought of never eating that wonderful delicacy ever again.

"Are you really that obsessed with ramen?" Tayuya asked.

Naruko nodded. "Yep! It's the greatest food ever, but I only get it when I complete my training. Like when I figured out the Kage Bunshin," she said with a smile. "Oh yeah. I still need to finish stage two for the Rasengan!"

"Alright, well you do that today. I'm going to go to the library here and get some scrolls for you to use. Tayuya, here," Jiraiya said and tossed her a scroll.

"What's this for?" she asked.

"That's for you to start your training. That scroll describes the basics of chakra and how to mold it. There's also a storage seal on there so you can start controlling your chakra. Once you've got that figured out you can start tree walking then move to water walking," he explained. "You two stay here and don't leave unless you absolutely have to. I'll be back a little later."

"OK Ero Sennin!" Naruko said and grabbed the scroll her father left to her. She then made 15 clones as Jiraiya left. She handed each clone the second ball for the Rasengan training.

"That's a lot of clones," Tayuya commented.

"Thanks. I can make way more though!" Naruko grinned. "It sure surprised Ero Sennin when I first figured out the Jutsu. I made over four hundred."

Tayuya nearly dropped he scroll she was holding. "Over four hundred?! Holy shit! Are you some kind of fucking chakra powerhouse or something?!" she yelled.

"I'm the jinchuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko. And I'm also an Uzumaki. Both factors give me immense chakra. But because of that it's harder for me to do Justus," Naruko explained.

Tayuya shook her head. "That's just fucking crazy," she said.

Naruko shrugged. "I guess so. I've never really thought about it," she said. "Well anyway, we should start training."

"Maybe I should've mentioned that I already know how to use chakra somewhat," Tayuya thought out loud.

Naruko shrugged. "Can you do the henge, kawarimi, or the Bunshin?" the blonde asked.

"I have a hard time doing them. I don't know why though," Tayuya said.

"Maybe you have a lot of chakra like me!" Naruko exclaimed.

"I doubt that. I'm nothing special," Tayuya scoffed.

Naruko just shrugged. "I don't believe that," she said.

Tayuya was about to retort, but a sudden blast of wind knocking her over stopped any words from coming.

"I got it! Finally!" one of the Naruko clones exclaimed. "Here you go Hime!" She dispelled in a burst of smoke.

The real Naruko took the memories in and nodded. "Alright ladies, we'll work on the final stage later. For now calligraphy and studying on fuinjutsu," she ordered.

"Yes, Hime!" The remaining clones chorused.

"What the fuck was that about?!" Tayuya exclaimed.

"That was the fruits of my labor on the Rasengan," she said. "I've been trying to get stage two down for a while now, and my clone finally got it. I'll show you." Naruko unsealed a water balloon then a rubber ball after. "Stage one is getting this water balloon to burst using my chakra," she explained and held up the water balloon away from the table and scrolls. She focused her chakra to move around and the water balloon began to move around erratically before finally bursting.

"That's stage one. Stage two is getting this rubber ball to burst. It's significantly harder to do because there is only air inside of the ball," she said and began to focus her chakra. The rubber ball began to move around a lot as the air was forced to move in every random direction. After a few moments the ball exploded causing a large gust of wind to blow through the room. Naruko nearly fell back as did Tayuya.

"That's fucking powerful!" Tayuya exclaimed.

"This was my fathers Jutsu that he created. I plan on adding my chakra elements to it later to make a bigger more powerful version," she said.

"Wait did you say "elements"? What the hell kinda girl are you?" Tayuya asked loudly, or rather screamed.

Naruko dug her finger in her ear to clear it out from Tayuya's outburst. "I'm an Uzumaki. According to Ero Sennin, the Uzumaki clan was know to have two or three different chakra natures. Usually water, wind, and lightning. Wind was a rare one though," she explained. "Ero Sennin thinks I got it from my father."

Tayuya shook her head. "Incredible," she said. "I'm hungry. Do we have any food in here?"

Naruko shook her head. "Sorry no. We'll have to go get some," she replied. "And Ero Sennin said only go outside when absolutely necessary. I see this as necessary! Let's go!" Naruko jumped up and grabbed her hoodie and grabbed the money she had. "Stir fry sound good?" she asked the redhead.

Tayuya nodded. "Why not," she said with a shrug and followed Naruko out the door.

Before she shut the door, Naruko turned around and looked out the window for a moment. She could've sworn somebody was watching her just now but she shook the feeling off. However, she had no idea how right she had been. Across the street on the rooftop of a building was a Kiri shinobi, an ANBU by his state of dress.

"I've found "Project Turtle". What course of action should I take?" he said into a microphone attached to an earpiece.

"Follow her and don't let her out of your sight," the voice on the other end came. It was distorted, but had a rather odd sound to it anyway. Almost serpentine in nature.

"She's with another girl. A blonde about the same age. What should I do about that one?" the ANBU asked.

"If she proves a problem, dispose of her," the voice said.

"Of course. And what about Jiraiya?" The man asked.

"Make sure he's not around. His escort should be enough to keep him busy today. Also when you feel as though you can get "Project Turtle" without any problems, take her," the voice said. "That's an order. I don't need that experiment getting back to Konoha."

"Understood, my lord," the ANBU said before cutting off the radio and following after the two girls, making sure to keep out of sight.

Meanwhile down below on the streets and completely unaware of the imminent threat, the two girls were walking around Kiri. Naruko stopped a few times in front of some sword shops and looked at the weapons with interest, but shook her head every time. She had taken an interest in kenjutsu when she was reading one of the scrolls from the Uzumaki clan half a year back and had been looking for a sword to use. Of course she would prefer to have one of her families old swords, but Kiri currently had possession of them and she wasn't about to steal one from a highly trained shinobi.

"What's your fascination with swords?" Tayuya asked as she left the window of another store.

"I want to learn my families kenjutsu eventually. So I need a really good sword to use. What's you fascination with musical instruments?" Naruko teased.

Tayuya flushed. "W-what the fuck are you talking about blondie?!" she growled.

Naruko laughed. "I saw you staring into the windows of the few musical stores we pass. Do you play anything?" Naruko asked curiously.

Tayuya nodded. "I can play the flute. I was taught a long time ago by somebody very close to me," she said quietly.

"Who was it?" Naruko asked curiously.

Tayuya looked away. "It was just somebody close to me, that's it!" she snapped.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you mad. It was just a question," Naruko said. "But whenever you feel like talking about it, I'll be right here beside you." Naruko smiled.

Tayuya didn't say anything in response. The two continued walking until they found a restaurant and went in. They ordered their food and then sat back in their chairs to wait. "I wonder what chakra nature you have," Naruko wondered aloud. "It would be cool if you had fire! Then we could do collaboration Jutsu with my wind!"

"Is training and making new Jutsu all you ever fucking think about?" Tayuya asked.

Naruko shrugged. "I guess so. I've never really had any other hobbies," she said, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.

"Oh," Tayuya said.

Their food came and they dug in promptly. Naruto was eating – actually no, eating is the wrong word for the way she eats; inhaling would be a much better term – her food rather quickly that she didn't notice the new patron enter the restaurant.

The man had his focus solely on Naruko and Tayuya as he entered. "Capture of "Project Turtle" is a go," he said quietly and walked over to the girls.

Naruko looked up and was immediately on the defensive as the man drew a kunai from his back. Naruko quickly grabbed her own kunai and jumped up to stand protectively in front of Tayuya. "Who the hell are you?!" she yelled as the man took a stance then disappeared only to appear directly behind her. He swung his hand down and chopped her in the back of the neck, knocking the blonde girl out in an instant.

He turned to face Tayuya only to find her gone and the Naruko behind him dispel in a cloud of smoke. "Kage Bunshin," he said to himself before leaving the restaurant. He quickly found the girls disappearing down an alleyway and followed after them on the rooftops. He waited until they turned down a dead end alley before dropping down silently behind them.

Naruko and Tayuya stopped in front of the wood fence blocking their path. Naruko gritted her teeth and turned to go back the other way but found the path blocked by the ANBU.

"What do you want with us?!" Naruko asked as she drew a second kunai.

"I only want her," he pointed to Tayuya.

Tayuya took a small step back while Naruko took a step forward and in front of the other girl. "Like I would just let you take the first friend I've ever really had away like that," she said and tossed both kunai before making a few hand signs. "Futon: Daitoppa!" she called out and used the wind to propel the blades forward quickly.

The ANBU, caught off guard that an eight-year-old could use wind jutsu, quickly deflected the incoming kunai with his tanto before charging forward. Naruko was already trying to create a Rasengan in her hand but had to abandon it entirely as the man was on her in seconds. She grabbed Tayuya and tried to run passed him but was kicked hard in the side into the wall.

"You're a nuisance blondie," he said coldly before he turned to Tayuya. "and you're coming with me," he finished before jumping behind her and knocking her out. He picked her up off the ground and turned to see Naruko standing up, holding her side.

"I won't let you take her away," she growled panting lightly. Her eyes had changed from cerulean blue to blood red with slits for pupils.

The ANBU scoffed and charged Naruko with blinding speeds. Naruko was glad for the training Jiraiya had put her through at that moment as she dodged back form the kick aimed for her chest. She jumped up and onto the wall before pushing off and swinging a roundhouse kick for his head. The ANBU merely leaned back before catching the fist sent after the spinning momentum. He lifted the girl up easily and slammed her on the ground hard before bringing her back up to eye level and releasing his grip on her wrist. The ANBU quickly spun around and kicked the girl hard in the gut, sending her flying into the wall hard.

Naruko coughed up blood as she collided with the wall and slid to the ground in a heap. She opened her eyes and looked up at him through the stars that swam in her vision. "N-no..." she coughed out. "Don't take her..." she groaned and tried to stand but fell back to the ground.

The ANBU said nothing but gave the girl a blank look from behind his mask. He turned away from Naruko and jumped up onto the rooftops and disappeared from sight.

Naruko tried to call out for him to stop but couldn't find the energy. The man had put a lot of power behind that kick and she could feel it through her whole chest and gut. She tried to stand one more time before falling back to the ground. Her vision going dark. "Tayuya-chan..." she groaned out before unconsciousness overtook her.

In an abandoned building on the poorer side of Kirigakure, a man was waiting at his desk while checking over some paperwork. He looked up when he felt a new presence enter the dimly lit building. "Project Turtle is back in our possession I'm assuming," he said. The man's voice was slick and dangerous. It would make anybody who heard it think of a snake.

The ANBU merely set Tayuya on the ground and nodded. "Yes. Her blonde companion proved to be a little bit of a pain, but it was dealt with," he said emotionlessly.

"It's to expected of Jiraiya's student. But nevertheless, we've got what we wanted," the other man said as he stood up and walked out of the shadows over the Tayuya, the light just barely allowing some of his facial features to be seen. The most notable of those were his piercing, dangerous yellow eyes and the purple marking next to them. He smile sickeningly down at the redhead.

"Finally, the Sanbi no Kyodaigame is back with us again. With this we will be able to start the civil war early," he said before chuckling darkly as the ANBU carried Tayuya to a hidden room.

The snake-like man look up to a window and grinned. "Perhaps I'll see you again my old friend, Jiraiya," he mused to himself before following the ANBU into the room.

* * *

Ang3l: Well I bet you weren't expecting that of Tayuya. And I'm sure you all know who the other man is who wanted Tayuya. The question is: What does he want with the Three-tails Jinchuriki exactly?

Kurama: You said it was to start the civil war early, dumbass.

Ang3l: I did. But that doesn't mean those are his only plans for Tayuya. You never know what that snake bastard is thinking.

Kurama: *scoffs* Either way, when will I get to kill somebody?

Ang3l: Probably next chapter buddy. Just hang tight.

Kurama: Good. I'm tired of waiting and my claws thirst for blood.

Ang3l: Kurama, you're drooling over the thought of killing somebody.

Kurama: *quickly wipes his mouth* Anyway…

Ang3l: See you guys next chapter. Here's a little sneak preview

" _TAYUYA!" Naruko screamed as her body became shrouded in red bubbling chakra. Long gone were her soft cerulean blue eyes and kind smile. Instead they were replaced with blood red slitted eyes and a feral snarl. The whisker marks on her face had darkened and her teeth were much sharper. Streaks of red found their way into Naruko's bangs and through some of her twin ponytails. Her nails increased in length and sharpness while she took on a more animalistic fighting stance. "Get the fuck away from her!" she roared, her voice deeper and more demonic. Not giving them a chance to act she roared again, sending a blast of wind at her opponent, before charging forward. The force of her charge cracked the ground behind her as she jumped up, claws raised to kill._


End file.
